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THE   DAWN   OF 

MODERN  GEOGRAPHY 

PART    II 


THE   DAWN   OF 

MODERN  GEOGRAPHY 

VOL,  II 

A   HISTORY  OF 

EXPLORATION   AND    GEOGRAPHICAL    SCIENCE 

FROM    THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    NINTH    TO 

THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  THIRTEENTH 

CENTURY  (c.  A.D.  900-1260) 


By  C.  RAYMOND  BEAZLEY,  M.A.,  F.R.G.S. 

FELLOW    OF    MERTON    COLLEGE,    OXFORD 


WITH  REPRODUCTIONS  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  MAPS  OF  THE  TIME 


LONDON 
HENRY  FROWDE,   AMEN   CORNER 


This  volume  was  originally  published  by  Mr.  John  Murray 
in  1901. 


1 


THE  DAWN  OF 

MODEKN  GEOGKAPHY 

PART    II 

A   HISTORY   OF 

EXPLORATION    AND    GEOGRAPHICAL    SCIENCE 

FROM    THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    NINTH    TO 

THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  THIRTEENTH 

CENTURY    (c.  AD.    900—1260) 


By   C.    RAYMOND   BEAZLEY,   M.A.,   F.R.G.S. 

FELLOW    OF    MERTON   COLLEGE,    OXFORD 

WITH  REPRODUCTIONS  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  MAPS    OF  THE  TIME 


LONDON 

JOHN   MURRAY,   ALBEMARLE   STREET 

1901 


PRINTED  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN. 


PREFACE 


This  volume  carries  on,  into  the  Central  Middle  Ages,  that 
History  of  Mediaeval  Geography — in  exploration,  travel,  and 
science — of  which  the  first  instalment  was  published  in  1897. 
The  former  period,  which  must  be  regarded  as  the  Dark  Age 
of  Geography,  was  taken  as  reaching  from  the  Conversion  of 
the  Eoman  Empire  to  the  close  of  the  ninth  century ;  the 
present,  to  which  the  name  of  '  Dawn '  is  more  strictly 
applicable,  covers  the  period  from  the  close  of  the  ninth  to 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century ;  the  two  succeeding 
centuries,  from  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  to  the 
death  of  Henry  the  Navigator,  in  1460,  may  be  taken  as 
completing  the  story  of  geographical  action  and  research  in 
the  Middle  Ages. 

In  the  present  volume  we  have  to  deal  with  the  central 
Mediaeval  Period,  and  especially  with  (1)  the  explorations 
and  enterprises  of  the  Northmen  down  to  about  a.d.  1066, 
the  eve  of  the  Crusades ;  (2)  the  history  of  pilgrim  travel 
to  the  Holy  Land,  and  of  other  intercourse  between  Syria 
and  the  Christian  West,  down  to  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century  ;  (3)  the  Hebrew  geographers  and  travellers,  especi- 
ally the  twelfth-century  Benjamin  of  Tudela ;  (4)  the  diplo- 


Vlll  PREFACE 

matic  and  missionary  travellers  of  the  thirteenth  century — 
especially  Carpini  and  Rubruquis — who  took  advantage  of 
the  new  routes  and  new  conditions  established  by  the 
Mongol  Conquests  to  penetrate  further  afield  than  any 
one  had  yet  ventured  from  Christian  Europe ;  (5)  the 
commercial  intercourse,  especially  of  the  Mediterranean 
basin,  and  the  extension  of  Christian  trade-adventure  to 
more  distant  regions  ;  (6)  certain  typical  geographical 
writings  and  plans  of  the  Central  Mediaeval  time,  and 
especially  those  of  the  Byzantine  Emperor,  Constantine 
VII.  (Porphyrogennetos),  of  the  German  chronicler,  Adam 
of  Bremen,  and  of  the  map-makers,  Beatus  of  Valcavado 
and  his  copyists,  Henry  of  Mainz,  Lambert  of  St.  Omer, 
and  various  anonymous  designers,  A  fuller  treatment  of 
the  details  of  these  map-schemes  is  given  in  an  Appendix 
on  Maps,  pp.  591-642.  Under  these  six  main  heads  an 
account,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  found  of  every  important  geo- 
graphical enterprise  or  speculation  in  Christendom,  and 
especially  in  Latin  Christendom,  during  the  Central  Middle 
Ages  (c.  a.d.  880-1260). 

Two  alterations  from  the  original  plan  have  been  made 
necessary  by  want  of  space.  It  has  not  been  possible  to  insert 
even  an  incomplete  survey  of  Arab  and  Chinese  exploration 
and  '  earth-study '  in  this  time  ;  and  it  has  only  been  possible 
to  treat  very  partially  the  geosophical  theorising  of  the 
Scholastics.  Thus  Roger  Bacon  and  Albertus  Magnus,  Plato 
of  Tivoli  and  Gerard  of  Cremona,  have  been  of  necessity 
almost  entirely  omitted  from  this  volume  ;  but  this  is  not  of 
any  great  moment,  as  all  that  is  valuable  for  our  purpose  in 
the  writings  of  the  Crusading  period  finds  a  sufficient  place 


PEEFACE  IX 

in  chapter  vii. ;  and  the  geographical  mythology  of  the  Middle 
Ages  in  general  has  been  already  considered  at  some  length 
{Dawn  of  Modern  Geography,  i.  ch.  vi.).  In  the  centuries  that 
now  concern  us  (from  the  tenth  to  the  thirteenth)  no  fact 
is  more  significant  (though  none  has  been  more  frequently 
missed)  than  the  steady  but  gradual  waning  of  fanaticism, 
the  ever-growing  change  from  the  conditions  of  an  earlier 
period,  when  religious  conceptions  appear  as  of  overwhelming 
importance.  For,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  religious  wars  are 
officially  the  great  interest  of  all  classes,  e.g.  in  the  twelfth 
century,  the  ambitions  and  ideals  of  the  merchant  are  really 
beginning  to  supplant  these  of  the  priest  and  the  devotee  ; 
it  is  under  the  spur  of  commercial  as  much  as  of  political 
designs  that  Christian  Europe  sets  about  retrieving  the 
position  that  had  been  lost  during  the  Dark  Ages ;  and  the 
discovery  of  a  new  world  for  trade  is  the  permanent  result 
of  the  Crusades  and  the  sign  and  abiding  symbol  of  a  true 
Mediaeval  Eenaissance  (eleventh  to  thirteenth  century). 

The  maps  of  this  time  (c.  a.d.  900-1260)  are  numerous 
and  interesting,  some  of  them  showing  a  great  advance  on 
any  older  Christian  designs  in  the  West.  Our  illustrations 
(all  taken  from  the  original  manuscript  sources)  include 
three  examples  of  the  Spanish  '  Beatus '  group,  the  '  Cotton  ' 
map  of  the  tenth  century  (a  possibly  Irish  work  of  singular 
merit),  the  Madaba  Mosaic  (a  striking  example  of  early 
Byzantine  cartography),  and  several  plans  of  Matthew 
Paris,  including  a  map  of  England,  which  ranks  among  the 
best  designs  executed  in  any  country  before  the  fourteenth 
century  and  the  beginning  of  the  Portolani  or  compass  coast- 
charts. 


Xll  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The  discovery  of  Helluland,  Markland,  Vinland,  and  other 
'  American  '  regions  by  the  Norsemen — Rival  narratives  of 
the  Vinland  Voyages — The  enterprises  of  Biarne  Heriulfson 
and  Leif  Ericson — Leif  Ericson's  settlement  in  Vinland — 
Thorvald  Ericson  ;  his  voyage  and  death  in  Vinland — 
Fruitless  venture  of  Thorstein  Ericson — Voyage  and  settle- 
ment of  Thorfinn  Karlsefne — His  contest  with  the  Skrae- 
lings  ;  he  abandons  his  purpose  of  Colonisation — Freydis, 
Red  Eric's  daughter  ;  her  Vinland  voyage  —  Additional 
details  supplied  by  Red  Eric's  Saga,  especially  as  to  Thor- 
finn  Karlsefne,  the  '  Wonder  Strand,'  '  Hop,'  the  '  Unipeds,' 
etc. — Later  voyages  to  Vinland — '  White  Man's  Land '  and 
'  Great  Ireland ' — Vinland  Controversies — Possible  identi- 
fications for  Vinland  and  the  Skraelings— Olaf  Haraldson  ; 
his  early  voyages  in  Western  Europe  ;  succession  to  the 
crown  of  Norway — Thorir  Hund  in  the  White  Sea — Olaf's 
intercourse  with  the  Orkneys,  Iceland,  etc. — Olaf  in  the 
Far  North  ;  his  war  with  Cnut  and  flight  to  Novgorod — 
Olaf's  fall ;  minor  travels,  of  Sighvat,  etc. — Magnus  the 
Good  and  Harald  Hardrada ;  early  wanderings  of  the 
latter — Harald  in  Russia,  at  Constantinople  and  Jerusalem, 
and  in  the  Mediterranean — His  later  enterprises  and  Polar 
projects 17-111 


CHAPTER  III 

PILGRIM  TRAVEL  (CIRC.  A.D.  900-1260) 

Christian  pilgrimage  from  the  close  of  the  ninth  century  to 
the  time  of  Pope  Gregory  VII. — The  outlook  at  the  close 
of  the  First  Millennium,  especially  in  Latin  Europe,  Ire- 
land, the  Byzantine  Empire,  the  Eastern  and  Western 
Caliphates — Intercourse  of  the  Latin  world  with  Palestine — 
Growing  Byzantine  influences  in  the  Levant,  a.d.  880-1030 
— Latin  journeys  of  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries  to  Syria 
— Destruction  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  a.d.  1010— French, 
German,  and  other  pilgrimages  of  1035,  1038,  1053,  1054, 
1058,  1064 — New  Era  with  Hildebrand  ;  the  outlook  about 
1070  —  Causes  and  results  of  the  Crusades  —  Pilgrim 
travellers  and  writers  at  the  time  of  the  First  Crusades — 
The  Innominati;  the  first  of  their  anonymous  narratives 
described— Saewulf  of  Worcester  ;  his  outward  journey-- 


CONTENTS  Xlll 


Saewnlf's  travels  in  Greece,  the  Archipelago,  and  Asia 
Minor — Saewulf  in  Palestine  ;  storm  at  Jaffa — Saewulf 
in  Jerusalem  ;  marvels  related  by  him — Saewulf' s  descrip- 
tion of  Hebron,  the  Jordan,  Galilee,  and  Lebanon — Saewnlf's 
return  journey — Abbot  Daniel  of  Kiev  ;  peculiar  value  of 
his  journey  and  narrative — Daniel's  outward  journey,  by 
Constantinople,  Rhodes,  and  Cyprus,  to  Jaffa — Daniel  in 
Jerusalem — Daniel's  description  of  Mar  Saba  Convent,  the 
Jordan,  various  sites  of  Galilee,  etc.— Daniel's  account  of 
the  Holy  Fire  ;  his  return  to  Russia  —  Scandinavian 
pilgrims  and  pilgrim  routes — King  Sigurd  of  Norway — 
His  sea-journey  to  Palestine  along  the  coast  of  Spain — 
Sigurd's  exploits  in  Spain  and  the  Balearics — Sigurd  in 
Palestine  ;  the  capture  of  Sidon—  Sigurd  at  Constantinople  ; 
his  return-journey  overland — Adelard  of  Bath  ;  his  literary 
tour  in  the  Levant — Later  pilgrim  journeys  and  narratives  ; 
their  great  number  and  comparative  unimportance — Chief 
sub-divisions  —  Fetellus  ;  his  description  of  Jerusalem, 
Mount  Sinai,  etc. — Marvels  and  myths — John  of  Wiirzburg 
— John's  merits  ;  vividness  of  his  narrative — His  protest 
on  behalf  of  the  Germans  in  the  crusades  —  Theoderich  ; 
artistic  and  observant  character  of  his  record — His  probable 
connection  with  John  of  Wiirzburg — Johannes  Phokas  ; 
his  references  to  Manuel  Comnenus — The  later  Innominati 
— Fragmentary  pilgrim  notices  down  to  1187 — Pilgrim  nar- 
ratives, 1187-1260 — The  City  of  Jerusalem — Ernoul — James 
de  Vitry — Antony  of  Novgorod — Wilbrand  of  Oldenburg — 
Thietmar  —  Sabbas  of  Servia  —  Fragmentary  pilgrim 
notices,  1187-1260 112-217 


CHAPTER  IV 

BENJAMIN  OF  TUDELA   AND   OTHER  JEWISH   TRAVELLERS,  TO   THE  MIDDLE 
OF   THE   THIRTEENTH  CENTURY 

Importance  of  Jewish  travel  in  Middle  Ages — Hebrew  wan- 
derers and  geographers  before  Rabbi  Benjamin — Jewish 
missionaries  in  Yemen  and  among  the  Khazars  —  Tenth 
century  Correspondence  between  Chasdai  at  Cordova  and 
King  Joseph  in  Khazaria — Date  of  Benjamin's  travels — His 
historical  allusions — His  profession  as  a  merchant — Sub- 
divisions of  his  journey  and  narrative — Benjamin's  outward 


XIV  CONTENTS 


route,  through  Eastern  Spain,  the  Narbonnese,  Provence, 
Italy,  Greece,  etc.  —  His  description  of  Constantinople 
— His  voyage  to  Syria — Merits  of  his  notes  on  Syria  ; 
examples  —  His  route  from  Damascus  to  Bagdad  ;  his 
account  of  the  latter — Position  of  the  Abbasside  Caliph  and 
the  Jews  of  Bagdad,  as  portrayed  by  Benjamin — More 
legendary  character  of  Benjamin's  Eecords,  after  Bagdad — 
His  stories  of  the  Jews  of  Arabia,  Persia,  and  Central  Asia, 
of  Babylon,  of  the  Tombs  of  the  Prophets,  of  David  El  Roy, 
and  of  the  Assassins  and  Turks  — Trade  of  the  Persian  Gulf, 
and  Indian  Ocean — Malabar,  Ceylon,  and  China — Aden, 
Nubia,  the  Nile,  and  Egypt — Benjamin  in  Cairo  and  Alex- 
andria— Catalogue  of  Merchants  trading  to  Alexandria — 
Benjamin's  return  by  Sicily — His  remarks  on  Germany  and 
Slavonia — Rabbi  Moses  Petachia  of  Ratisbon  and  Prague — 
His  journey  to  Syria  through  Eastern  Europe  and  the 
North  of  the  Black  Sea  —  His  notes  on  '  Kedar '  and 
'  Meshech '  in  Modern  South  Russia — Petachia  in  Georgia, 
Armenia,  and  Mesopotamia — His  journey  from  Bagdad  to 
Damascus — His  account  of  Hebron  and  other  Palestine  sites 
— Later  Jewish  travellers  and  geographers,  1200-1260  218-274 


CHAPTER  V 

DIPLOMATIC  AND   MISSIONARY  TRAVEL  OF  THE  THIRTEENTH  CENTURY 
CARPINI,  RUBRUQUIS,  ETC. 

New  era  created  by  the  Mongul  conquests — Christian  attitude 
towards  the  Mongols — Embassies  despatched  to  the  Tartar 
Courts  in  1245, 1247, 1249, 1252,  etc.— the  Mission,  journey, 
and  narrative  of  John  de  Piano  Carpini — His  account  of 
the  Tartar  country,  manners,  history,  etc. — Virtues  and 
vices  of  the  Nomades — Widespread  destruction  effected  by 
the  Mongols — Their  skill  in  war  ;  their  cruelty  and  avarice 
— Universal  ambitions  of  Ghenghiz's  successors  ;  Carpini's 
warning  to  Christendom — Carpini's  outward  route  through 
Bohemia,  Poland  and  Russia ;  arrival  at  Kiev — Journey 
from  the  Dniepr  to  the  Volga  ;  arrival  at  Batu's  camp — 
Carpini's  description  of  the  Steppes  and  their  great  rivers 
— Journey  from  the  Volga  to  Mongolia — Carpini's  classifica- 
tion of  the  regions  surrounding  Batu's  camp  and  the  Lower 
Don — Arrival  in  the  vallev  of  the  Svr  Daria — The  ruined 


CONTENTS  XV 


towns  of  Moslem  Central  Asia — Route  by  Lake  Ala-Kul 
over  the  dividing  range  west  of  Mongolia — Arrival  at  the 
Great  Khan's  '  Horde ' — Ceremonial  of  the  Court ;  election 
of  Kuyuk  Khan — Carpini's  audiences  of  the  Mongol 
Emperor — Meetings  with  other  Christians  and  Europeans, 
envoys,  prisoners,  hostages,  etc. — Carpini  receives  Kuyuk's 
reply  to  the  papal  letters — His  return  by  Batu's  camp  to 
Kiev — Italian  traders  on  the  Dniepr — Mission  of  Andrew 
of  Longumeau — His  ill-success — Peculiar  route  followed 
by  Andrew — Mission  of  William  of  Rubruquis — His  com- 
panions— Outward  route  by  Constantinople  and  the  Crimea 
— Rubruquis'  Black  Sea  Geography — His  route  from  Sudak 
to  the  Isthmus  of  Perekop — His  account  of  the  Tartar 
manners  and  customs,  the  dwellings,  food,  fashions,  laws, 
and  ceremonies  of  the  Nomades — Rubruquis'  journey  to 
the  Don  and  Volga  ;  his  account  of  the  Finns  of  the  Forest 
Region  to  the  North,  and  of  the  hill  tribes  of  the  Caucasus 
to  the  South — Rubruquis  at  the  camp  of  Sartach  near  the 
Volga — Journey  to  the  Camp  of  Batu — Passage  of  the  Volga 
— Arrival  and  reception  at  Batu's  Court — Journey  from  the 
Volga,  over  the  Ural  river,  to  the  region  of  Lakes  Balkhash 
and  Ala-Kul  —  Rubruquis'  description  of  the  Uigurs, 
Tanguts,  Tibetans,  Cathayans,  etc.  ;  his  opinion  of  Nes- 
torian  Christians — Journey  from  Lake  Ala-Kul,  over  the 
dividing  range,  into  Mongolia — Arrival  at  the  Great  Khan'a 
Court,  and  reception  there — Europeans  at  Mangu's  Court — 
Visit  to  Karakorum  ;  Rubruquis'  account  of  the  tribes  of 
the  Far  North — Controversies  with  Nestorians,  Moslems, 
Buddhists,  Manichaeans,  etc. — Mangu  dismisses  Rubruquis 
with  letters  to  St.  Louis — Numerous  envoys  from  the  distant 
parts  at  Mangu's  Court — Rubruquis'  return  to  Batu's  camp — 
News  of  Hayton,  King  of  Little  Armenia — Journey  from 
Batu's  camp,  through  the  Caucasus,  to  Armenia — Through 
the  Sultanate  of  Iconium  to  the  coast  of  Cilicia — Com- 
parative merits  of  Rubruquis  and  Carpini  ;  recent  contro- 
versy— King  Hayton  of  Little  Armenia  ;  his  journey  to 
the  Mongol  Courts — Previous  journey  of  the  Constable 
Sempad  ;  his  stay  at  Samarcand — Hayton's  route  through 
Kars,  Derbent,  and  the  Caucasus,  to  Batu  on  the  Volga — 
Thence  over  the  Ural  to  the  Great  Khan  Mangu — Hayton's 
return  through  Eastern  and  Western  '  Turkestan,'  Ncrth 
Persia,  South  Armenia,  etc. — Hayton's  stories  of  Buddhist 
customs,  etc.  . 275-391 


XVI  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VI 

COMMERCIAL   TRAVEL   (CIRC.    A.D.    900-1260) 

Mercantile  activity  of  Mediaeval  Latin  Europe  centred  in  Italy 
— Commercial  position  of  Constantinople — The  results  of 
the  Crusades  in  the  commercial  opening  of  the  world — 
Amain ;  its  early  development  —  Wide  extent  of  its 
eleventh-century  trade  —  Decline  after  the  first  Crusade, 
especially  from  the  Norman  Conquest  of  1131 — Amain  and 
maritime  law — Venice  ;  origins  of  its  trade  and  influence — 
Early  development  of  its  constitution  and  prosperity 
—  Close  connection  of  Venice  with  Constantinople  — 
Clandestine  commerce  with  the  Saracens  —  Intercourse 
of  Arenice  with  Germany  and  the  Levant  —  Import- 
ance of  maritime  routes  to  Syria  during  the  Crusades — 
Concessions  granted  to  Western  traders  by  Crusading 
Princes  ;  various  types  of  these  concessions — Instances  of 
maritime  aid  furnished  by  Venice,  etc.,  to  crusading  armies 
— Venice  and  the  Comneni — Close  alliance  with  Alexius 
Comnenus  against  the  Normans — Venetian  quarrel  with 
Manuel  Comnenus — Struggle  of  Venice  and  her  commercial 
rivals  for  ascendancy  in  Byzantine  trade — The  '  Crusade ' 
of  1202-4 — Period  of  Venetian  ascendancy  under  the  Latin 
Empire ;  distant  developments  of  their  commerce — Venetian 
intercourse  with  Moslem  States  in  thirteenth  century — De- 
cline of  Venetian  influence  in  the  Crusading  States — Genoa  ; 
its  origin,  early  history,  and  especial  sphere  of  energy  in 
the  Western  Mediterranean — Active  share  of  Genoa  in  the 
Crusades — Intercourse  with  Constantinople  ;  treaties  with 
Manuel  Comnenus  —  Intercourse  with  Egypt  and  North 
Africa,  with  Spain,  the  Narbonnese,  Provence,  etc. — 
Triumph  of  Genoa  in  Byzantine  commerce  at  end  of  this 
period,  through  restoration  of  Greek  Empire — Pisa  ;  origin 
and  early  history  —  Great  prosperity  in  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries  —  Extreme  activity  in  Crusades — The 
concessions  of  the  Pisans  in  the  Crusading  States — Their 
rivalry  with  Venice,  even  at  Constantinople  —  Intercourse 
with  Egypt,  North  Africa,  Spain,  and  the  Provencal  lands 
— Decline  of  Pisa  in  the  thirteenth  century — Marseilles  ; 
its  share  in  promoting  pilgrimages  and  Crusades  to  Syria — 
Its  prosperity  in  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries — Rivalry 
with  Genoa  —  Intercourse  with  coasts  of  Western  Medi- 
terranean— Montpellier,    Narbonne,  and  Barcelona  ;    their 


CONTENTS 


XV11 


early  prosperity — Narbonne  as  an  intermediary  between 
England  and  Egypt — Influence  of  the  Catalan  seamen  on 
commercial  and  maritime  law — Invention  of  the  Portolani 
perhaps  due  to  Catalans — Biscayans,  Castilians,  Galicians, 
and  Portuguese  ;  their  share  in  Mediaeval  trade  —  Com- 
mercial advances  eastward  from  the  Crusading  States  of 
the  Levant — Centres  of  trade  in  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem, 
the  Counties  of  Tripoli,  Edessa,  etc.  —  Damascus  and 
Bagdad  as  emporia — Pisan,  Venetian,  and  other  Christian 
merchants  in  the  Moslem  Levant — Trebizond,  Nicaea,  and 
Little  Armenia  as  gates  of  trade-intercourse  between  East 
and  West — Trade  route  crossing  Asia  Minor,  Mesopotamia, 
Syria,  and  Arabia — Christian  merchants  on  the  Euxine 
coasts,  in  the  Steppe  Country,  and  in  Russia  —  The 
chief  emporia  of  the  Black  Sea  ;  Kaffa,  Matracha,  Sudak, 
Tana,  Kherson  or  Sevastopol,  Trebizond,  etc. — Little  Ar- 
menia as  a  centre  of  trade — New  trade  routes  opened  by 
the  Mongols — Importance  of  Egyptian  commerce  in  central 
mediaeval  period —  Continued  prosperity  of  Alexandria — 
Intercourse  between  Christendom  and  the  Farther  East 
through  Egypt 392-464 


CHAPTER  VII 


GEOGRAPHICAL  THEORY   AND   DESCRIPTION   (CIRC.  A.D.  900-1260) 

Two  chief  examples  of  geographical  writing  taken  :  (1)  By- 
zantine, of  tenth  century  ;  (2)  German  of  eleventh — With 
these  we  must  also  notice  (3)  maps  of  the  Xth,  Xlth, 
Xllth,  and  Xlllth  centuries — (1)  Constantine  Porphyro- 
gennetos  ;  his  position  as  a  geographer  —  The  work  On 
the  Administration  of  the  Empire  ;  its  high  value  and 
interest — The  writings  On  the  Themes,  Ceremonies,  etc., 
of  Byzantine  Empire — Summary  of  the  Administration ; 
its  main  subdivisions — The  Byzantine  revival  under  the 
Macedonian  Dynasty — Byzantine  influence  on  the  sur- 
rounding nations,  especially  the  Slavonic — Range  of  By- 
zantine geography  in  tenth  century  —  The  Neighbours, 
friendly  and  hostile,  of  the  Empire — The  Bulgarians  and 
Constantinople — The  Hungarians  and  Constantinople — The 
Russians  and  Constantinople  —  The  Petchinegs  and  Con- 
stantinople— The  Khazars  and  Constantinople — The  Arabs 
and  Constantinople— Vassals  of  the  Empire,  especially  in 


XV111  CONTENTS 


Italy,  Dalraatia,  the  Crimea,  the  Caucasus,  and  Armenia — 
Geographical  information,  as  to  many  of  these,  from  By- 
zantine sources  —  Subjects  of  the  Empire — The  City  of 
Constantinople  itself  the  Empire — Its  universal  attractions 
—  Employment  of  all  races  in  its  service — (2)  Adam  of 
Bremen  ;  his  importance  in  mediaeval  geography — Adam 
at  the  Court  of  Archbishop  Adalbert  of  Bremen ;  his 
opportunities  there  —  Adalbert  and  Svein,  King  of 
Denmark,  Adam's  chief  patrons  and  informants — Adam's 
other  sources — Adam's  general  geographical  theories — His 
description  of  the  countries  of  Northern  Europe  —  His 
'  Scythia ' — His  account  of  the  Scandinavian  lands,  of  the 
Baltic  coasts,  and  of  the  chief  ports  of  these  seas,  especially 
Jumna  and  Birca — Adam's  treatment  of  'islands'  in  the 
Northern  Ocean — His  notices  of  Iceland,  Greenland,  and 
Vialand  —  The  lands  around  Bremen  and  '  Saxonia ' — 
Christian  and  Pagan  Slaves — Russia  and  its  metropolis  of 
Kiev,  as  treated  by  Adam — Finnish  tribes  of  the  Far  North 
— Harald  Hardrada's  venture  in  search  of  the  Northern 
limit  of  the  world — (3)  Maps  of  the  Central  Mediaeval 
Period  —  The  Beatus  group,  '  St.  Sever,'  '  Osma,'  etc. — 
Leading  characteristics  ;  the  Apostolic  Pictures,  etc. — 
Illustrative  details  ;  connection  with  cartography  of  later 
imperial  time  —  The  so-called  '  Jerome '  Maps  —  The 
'Cottoniana '  or  '  Arjglo-Saxon'  Map;  its  merits,  possible 
origin,  and  special  purpose — Its  possible  connection  with 
the  Itinerary  of  Archbishop  Sigeric  of  Canterbury — The 
Map  of  Henry  of  Mainz  ;  connection  with  the  '  Imago 
Mundi '  of  Honorius  of  Autun,  and  with  the  '  Psalter,; 
'  Ebstorf,'  and  '  Hereford '  Maps— The  '  Psalter '  Map- 
Illustrative  details  of  all  these  related  designs — Maps  of 
Lambert  of  St.  Omer  ;  their  connection  with  the  '  Macro- 
bius,'  '  Sallust,'  and  T-0~sketches — Illustrative  details  of 
all  these — The  leading  TO  maPs  ;  their  connection  with 
classical  schools  —  Map  of  Guiclo  'of  Ravenna'  —  The 
Madaba  Map  and  the  '  Situs  Hierusalem '  as  examples  of 
detailed  '  Chorography ' — Illustrative  details — Connection 
of  the  '  Situs '  with  other  works  —  Lost  maps  of  this 
period 465-590 

Appendix  on  Maps  .  ,         591-642 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


>»-< 


TO  FACE  PAGE 


Examples  of  '  Beatus  '  Cartography — 

(a).  The  Map  of  'St.  Sever,'  of  c.  a.d.  1030  .         .         .550 

(/3).  The 'Turin'  Map  of  c.  a. D.  1150 552 

(y).  The    British  Museum   or   so-called  '  Spanish  Arabic ' 

Map  of  a.d.  1109 554 

The  'Cotton'  or  so-called  '  Anglo-Saxon'  Map  of  c.  a.d.  990  560 

The  World-Map  of  Henry  of  Mainz,  of  c.  a.d.  1110     .        .  564 

The    Larger    'Jerome'   Map  (so-called)  of    the    Twelfth 

Century 566 

The 'Psalter'  Map  of  the  Thirteenth  Century     .        .        .  568 

The  Macrobian  '  Cotton  '  Zone-Map  of  the  Tenth  Century  .  574 

The  Climate  Map  of  Petrus  Alphonsus,  c.  a.d.  1110        .        .  576 

The  Madaba  Mosaic  Map  of  the  Sixth  Century       .        .        .  580 

The  'Situs  Hierusalem,'  of  c.  a.d.  1100 582 

Examples  of  Matthew  Paris'  Cartography  (Middle  of  the 
Thirteenth  Century) — 

(a).  The  '  England,'  of  the  most  finished  '  Cotton  '  form       .  584 
(/3).  The  '  World  Map,'  from  the  London  copy     .         .         .586 
(>).  The  '  Itinerary '  from  London  to  Apulia  (South-Italian 

section)      .........  588 

(5).  The  '  Palestine,'  from  the  best  London  copy          .         .  590 

The  World-Map  of  Guidu,  c.  a.d.  1119 632 


THE   DAWN    OF   MODERN   GEOGRAPHY 


CHAPTEE   I 

INTRODUCTION. 

In  a  former  volume  we  attempted  to  trace  the  story  of 
geographical  movements  and  the  records  of  travellers  and 
men  of  science  from  the  conversion  of  the  Eoman  Empire 
to  the  close  of  the  ninth  century,  thus  arriving  at  one  of 
the  darkest  periods  of  the  Middle  Ages.  In  the  present,  or 
second,  part  of  this  survey  of  mediaeval  geography  our  task 
will  be  a  different  one.  For  here  we  begin  upon  a  ground 
which  seems  well-nigh  entirely  barren;  we  cross  that  desert 
which  separates  the  earlier  and  later  Middle  Age,  the 
'  Eomanesque '  and  the  '  Gothic ' ;  and  we  follow  the 
streamlet  of  western  enterprise  as  it  leads  us  into  a  country 
far  richer  and  more  abundant  than  any  we  have  traversed 
since  the  age  of  Constantine  (a.d.  900-1260), 

Before  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century  Christian  Europe 
has  rallied  from  its  decadence  and  apparent  torpor,  and  is 
on  every  side  passing  beyond  its  former  bounds,  reconquer- 
ing ancient  possessions,  and  seeking  new  fields  for  its 
energy.  The  Crusades  are  the  central  expression  of  this 
revival,  which,  though  defeated  in  some  of  its   immediate 

A 


2  INTRODUCTION  [Ch. 

objects,  was  entirely  successful  in  kindling  a  spirit  of 
patriotism,  of  practical  religious  fervour,  and  of  boundless 
enterprise,  whereby  our  Western  World  finally  attained  to 
the  discovery,  conquest,  colonisation,  or  trade-dominion  of 
the  best  portions  of  the  earth. 

The  pilgrims,  traders,  and  missionaries  of  the  earlier 
Middle  Age  have  already  shown  us  how  far  Christian  Europe, 
up  to  the  close  of  the  ninth  century,  was  in  touch  with  the 
outside  world.  In  the  central  mediaeval  era  which  now 
occupies  us  we  find,  on  one  side,  a  certain  contraction,  on 
another  an  immense  extension,  of  geographical  enterprise. 
In  Central  Asia  and  in  the  far  East  and  South  of  that 
Continent  the  Nestorian  Missions  slowly  decline  as  Islam 
advances,  and  as  the  Syrian  starting-point  of  these  same 
missions  becomes  more  and  more  a  centre  of  Mohammedan 
life.  But  to  the  north  and  west  of  Europe  the  Scandinavian 
mariners  (first  as  heathen,  then  as  Christian,  explorers),  dis- 
cover, ravage,  or  settle  new  lands  beyond  the  furthest  limits 
of  ancient  knowledge.  And  as  these  northern  adventurers 
scatter  themselves  over  the  whole  shore-line  of  the  older 
Christendom,  as  well  as  the  coasts  of  Greenland,  Vinland, 
and  North-Eastern  Europe,  they  are  slowly  brought 
into  the  federation  of  the  Western  Church,  and  thus  the 
pilgrim  spirit  is  translated,  as  it  were,  into  new  and  more 
powerful  forms.  Christendom  had  seen  a  wonderful  expan- 
sion of  the  heathen  North  ;  now  that  it  had  won  the  North- 
men to  itself  it  was  ready  to  imitate  their  example.  The 
deliberate  purpose  of  ecclesiastical  statesmen  gave  direction 
to  a  universal  feeling  of  capacity  and  ambition  chafing  under 
restraint.  Even  the  struggle  which,  under  Gregory  VII., 
broke  out  between  the  Empire  and  the  Papacy  did  not 
prevent  the  combined  efforts  of  Christian  peoples  and 
warriors  to  win  a  new  vantage  ground  in  the  Levant,  and 


I.]  THE   NORTHMEN    IN    EXPLORATION  3 

to  reopen  for  European  enterprise  a  way  to  the  more  distant 
East. 

The   discoveries   and    conquests   of   the   Northmen    fall 
mainly  within  that  first  barren  period  to  which  we  have 
referred ;  during  much  of  this  time  they  go  on  quite  apart 
from  the  life  of  Christendom,  and  at  first  appear  in  bitter 
hostility  to  it.     But  the   gradual  association,  incorporation, 
or  alliance  of  the  Scandinavians  with  the  nations  they  came 
to  plunder  or  to  destroy,  is  perhaps  the  most  decisive  fact 
in  the  story  of  the  Christian  Middle  Ages,  and  affords  a 
basis  and  starting-point  for  every  subsequent  development. 
The  Crusades,  the  commercial  and  territorial  expansion  that 
follows    the    Crusading    movement,    and   the   extension    of 
European  spirit   and  influence  towards  ultimate  predomin- 
ance in  the  outside  world,  are  all  related  to  the  formative, 
provocative,    and    invigorative    influence    of    the    northern 
invasions.    The  travels  and  adventures  of  Ohthere  and  Wulf- 
stan,  Eric  Blood-axe  and  Eric  Haraldson  (c.  a.d.  890,  918, 
930),  on  the  coasts  of  Lapland,  the  White  Sea,  and  the  Baltic; 
of   Olaf   Tryggveson    and   Olaf   the    Saint    in    Russia    and 
Western  Europe  (c.  965-1015)  ;  the  voyages  of  Thorir  Hund 
to  the  Dvina  in  the  track  of  Ohthere  (c,  1025) ;  of  Nadodd, 
Gardar,   Iugolf,    Leif,    Gunnbiorn,  Red   Eric,    Leif   Ericson, 
and  Thorfinn  Karlsefne  to  Iceland,  Greenland,  and  Vinland 
(c.  805-1010) ;  and  of  Harald  Hardrada  in  Eastern  Europe, 
in  the  Mediterranean,  and  in  the  Polar  Seas  (c.  1035-1055), 
stand  out  as  the  leading  incidents  in  the  history  of  this  early 
Scandinavian  exploration  of  the  outer  world,  and  give  the 
outlines  of  a  picture  unmatched  in  the  story  of  mediaeval 
geography. 

Apart  from  the  work  of  the  Norsemen,  which  must  be 
considered  as  introductory  to  the  rest,  the  geographical  move- 
ments of  the  Latin   world  within  this  time  (900-1260)  fall 


4  INTRODUCTION  [Ch. 

into  three  main  divisions.  First,  we  have  the  pre-Crusad- 
ing  journeys  and  writings  of  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
centuries ;  secondly,  those  which  fall  within  the  first  century 
of  Crusading  activity ;  thirdly,  those  which  belong  to  the 
time  that  follows  Saladin's  overthrow  of  the  Latin  Kingdom 
of  Jerusalem.  In  the  first  of  these  epochs  we  have  material 
of  little  importance  in  itself,  and  chiefly  interesting  as  a 
preparation  for  what  was  to  come ;  in  the  second  a  notable 
extension  of  the  horizon  is  obvious ;  but  it  is  not  until  the 
third  that  we  see  men  from  Catholic  Europe  travelling 
beyond  the  ancient  limits,  crossing  the  heart  of  Asia,  and 
bringing  to  the  Court  of  China  first-hand  evidence  of  the 
lands  '  near  the  sunsetting.' 

Among  the  chief  figures  of  these  three  periods  we  have 
in  the  first-named  the  famous  Gerbert  (Pope  Sylvester 
II.),  whom  a  later  tradition  makes  an  early  preacher  of 
Syrian  Crusade,  but  whose  alleged  visit  to  the  Holy  Land 
is  more  than  doubtful;  Duke  Eobert  of  Normandy,  who 
certainly  visited  Jerusalem  in  1035-1036 ;  and  his  great 
contemporaries,  Fulk  the  Black,  Count  of  Anjou,  Ealdred, 
Archbishop  of  York,  Siegfried  of  Mainz,  Hermann  of 
Bamberg,  William  of  Angouleme,  and  Svein  son  of  God  wine 
But  there  is  no  pilgrim  journey  of  this  time  which  stands 
out  in  any  marked  degree,  or  has  left  records  of  such  im- 
portance as  to  bring  into  relief  the  personality  of  any  par- 
ticular traveller  or  writer.  This  pilgrim  literature,  of  which 
we  have  seen  so  many  examples  in  the  earlier  Christian 
centuries,  begins  again  with  the  second  division  of  our 
subject,  the  century  of  the  first  three  Crusades  (1096-1191). 
And  in  this  literature  the  first  names  of  note  are  Saewulf 
of  Worcester,  Adelard  or  Athelard  of  Bath,  and  Daniel  of 
Kiev,  three  of  that  host  of  peaceful  wanderers  who  followed 
the  conquerors  of  the  First  Crusade.    Saewulf  and  Daniel  have 


1. 1  PILGRIMS    OF    THE    CRUSADING    AGE  5 

left  us  their  note-books,  arid  both  of  these  belong  to  the  new 
time,  a  time  full  of  life  and  personal  interest,  in  sharp  contrast 
to  the  generations  immediately  preceding,  when  history  is 
almost  inarticulate,  and  when  even  the  bare  outlines  of 
the  world's  leading  figures  are  scarcely  discernible.  The 
hordes  of  tenth  and  eleventh  century  pilgrims  give  no  sign  of 
anything  but  the  simplest  penitential  purpose,  though  every 
fresh  conversion  of  the  northern  nations  *  (especially  since 
the  end  of  the  First  Millennium)  had  been  bringing  a  new 
stream  of  devotees  to  Italy  and  the  Levant.  But  now,  when 
Mediaeval  Christendom  had  begun  to  take  shape,  when  a 
revival  of  intellectual  life  had  shown  itself,  and  when  re- 
ligious passion  had  become  more  steady  and  less  unworldly, 
the  discoverer,  the  scientific  observer,  and  the  merchant, 
are  blended  with  the  pilgrim  pure  and  simple  in  an  ever 
larger  number  of  those  records  that  have  come  down  to  us. 

Thus  Saewulf,  the  layman  and  the  merchant;  Adelard, 
the  investigator  of  nature  ;  Daniel,  the  Prussian  monk  and 
patriot  ;  all  show  us  something  of  the  new  face  of  things, 
and  suggest  changes  still  greater.  And  it  is  here,  even  more 
than  in  knowledge,  or  extent  of  travel,  that  these  later 
pilgrims  show  so  marked  an  advance  on  the  chief  of  their 
predecessors.  This  is  also  the  main  interest  in  the  journey  of 
King  Sigurd  of  Norway,  at  this  very  time  (1107-1111),  for, 
though  his  voyage  added  nothing  definite  to  geographical 
knowledge,  he  represents,  in  his  person  as  a  Crusading 
Norseman,  the  meeting  of  two  forces  whose  union  was  of 
infinite  promise  for  the  future.  For  here  is  dramatically 
combined  the  militant  Christianity  of  the  Western  Church, 
and  the  daring  spirit  of  that  race  which  had  restored  the 
energies  of  European  nations,  and  opened  so  much  of  land 
and  sea  to  European  enterprise. 

1  In  which   Hungary  must  be  included. 


6  INTRODUCTION  LCh. 

Our  second  period  closes  with  the  records  of  Benjamin 
of  Tudela  (1159-1173),  and  other  less  important  travellers, 
whose  horizon  has  broadened  from  the  nearer  East  of  the 
Levant  to  the  Middle  Orient,  to  the  lands  beyond  Syria,  the 
Euphrates,  and  the  Caucasus.  Thus  the  European  is  be- 
ginning to  enter  a  world  outside  the  influence  of  his  own 
races  and  centres  of  power,  even  outside  the  purview  of 
the  contracted  Christendom  of  the  Dark  Ages ;  a  world 
where  the  visitor  becomes  gradually  conscious  of  a  new  light 
radiating  from  the  far  distant,  self-contained,  and  long 
hidden1  civilisations  of  India  and  China. 

The  third  period   that   here  concerns  us  (c.   1190-1260) 
brings  the  West  into  direct  connection  with  those  distant 
regions,  incredibly  rich  and  populous  and  attractive  as  they 
seemed  to  the  Latin   world  of  that  time.     Meantime,  that 
Latin   world   had   committed  a   criminal   blunder,   and    had 
witnessed  with  apathy,  almost  with  satisfaction,  the  fall  of 
two  great  disasters  (one  self-inflicted,  the  other  unforeseen 
and  incalculable,  but  still  more  terrific)  upon  the  common 
interests  of  European  nations.     On  one  side,  the  Crusaders 
of   1202-1204  had  turned  away  from  their  promised   work 
to  seize  Constantinople,  and  found  a  Latin  empire  on  the 
ruins  of  the  shrunken  Byzantine  State ;  on  another  side,  the 
Eoman  Church  had  seen  (from  the  year  1213)  the  rise  of 
the   Tartar  Empire   of   Ghenghiz   Khan  and  his   successors, 
without  raising  a  finger  to  save  the  Christians  of  the  Eussian 
States,  of  Poland,  or  of  Hungaiy.     All  else  was  forgotten  ex- 
cept the  partial  truths  that  the   Greeks  had  broken  com- 
munion with  Eome,  and   that   the   Tartars  had   weakened 
Islam  ;    wild  hopes  of  Mongol  conversion  wrere  entertained 
in  the  West;  and  Latin  missions  crossed  Europe  and  Asia 
to    the    court    of   the    Great    Khan.      Thus   John   de   Piano 
1  I.e.  from  Mediaeval  Europe. 


I]       COMMERCIAL,    DIPLOMATIC,    MISSIONARY  TRAVEL       7 

Carpini  (1246-1247),  William  de  Kubruquis  (1253-1255), 
Nicolo  and  Matteo  Polo,1  uncles  of  Marco  (1255-1269),  with 
many  others,  made  their  way  to  the  headquarters  of  the 
Nomacle  princes,  to  Sarai  on  the  Volga,  to  Karakorum  near 
Lake  Baikal,  and  to  the  summer  capital  of  Kublai  Khan, 
beside  the  wall  of  China. 

Thus,  by  about  1260,  we  have  reached  a  state  of  things 
which  is,  in  all  respects,  an  advance  on  the  Dark  Age  Period, 
as  shown  in  the  seventh,  eighth,  or  tenth  centuries.  The 
outlook  of  the  European  has  greatly  extended ;  the  all- 
absorbing  ambitions  of  the  first  Saracens  have  been 
thwarted ;  it  is  not  likely  now  that  Christendom,  however 
endangered  from  time  to  time,  will  finally,  and  as  a  whole, 
succumb  to  Islam.  In  particular,  its  geographical  outlook, 
its  knowledge  of  the  world,  both  practical  and  scientific, 
has  been  widened  and  deepened,  while  that  of  its  great 
rival  is  already  giving  signs  of  an  autumn,  which,  however 
splendid,  is  an  autumn  still.  We  must  not  be  deceived  by 
exceptions.  No  greater  Moslem  traveller  ever  lived  than 
the  fourteenth-century  Doctor  of  Tangier;  yet  it  is  un- 
deniable that,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  Moslem  geography 
and  Moslem  science  are  declining.  Turks  and  Tartars  by 
successive  invasions  and  devastations,  Spanish  Christians 
by  their  incessant  attacks,  were  slowly  ruining  the  higher 
culture  of  the  Mohammedan  world.  We  may,  perhaps, 
see  the  beginnings  of  this  ruin  even  from  the  time  of  the 
great  encyclopaedist  Yakut  (f  1229);  the  slowly  dying  flame 
blazes  up  once  more  in  a  brilliant  farewell  with  the  work 
of  Ibn  Batuta  and  Abulfeda  ;  but  after  this  there  is  little 
but  cold  and  darkness. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  close  of  the  Crusading  Era  leaves 
us  at  the  end   of  the  great  scholastic  age,   at  the  abortive 

1  Whose  journey  lies  just  outside  the  period  of  this  volume. 


8  INTRODUCTION  [Oh. 

conclusion  of  ail  efforts  for  Latin  domination  in  the  Levant ; 
but  it  also  brings  us  to  the  completion  of  a  great  and  fruitful 
chapter  of  social  and  political  growth,  and  to  the  beginning 
of  an  even  more  decisive  advance.  For,  as  the  warlike 
spirit  of  Christendom  seems  to  grow  somewhat  weary,  and 
as  its  efforts  at  founding  new  kingdoms  (in  Antioch,  Cyprus, 
Jerusalem,  or  Constantinople)  appear  more  and  more  fruit- 
less, a  still  greater  extension  of  European  life  and  knowledge 
begins.  The  missionaries  and  merchants  who  followed  the 
Crusading  armies  to  the  Euphrates,  and  crept  on  to  Ceylon 
and  the  China  Sea,  brought  Further  and  Central  Asia — 
Thesauri  Arctium  et  divitis  Indiae  —  within  the  ken  of 
the  Frankish  and  Latin  nations.  Again,  though  baulked  in 
the  Eastern  Mediterranean,  and  disappointed  in  their  hopes 
of  permanent  advance  along  the  Asiatic  land-routes,  the 
European  races  turned,  with  an  energy  and  daring  im- 
possible at  an  earlier  time,  to  discover  a  maritime  route  to 
India  and  China.  As  early  as  1270  these  attempts  began 
with  the  first  voyages  to  the  Canaries,  and  after  two  centuries 
of  slow  endeavour  the  way  round  Africa  was  laid  open.  We 
may  notice  that  the  Vinland  voyages  of  the  Northmen  were 
discoveries  rather  of  special  than  general  interest  or  useful- 
ness ;  unconnected  as  they  were  with  the  main  lines  of  trade, 
or  with  the  general  life  of  Christendom,  they  were  never 
realised  or  understood  by  the  Western  World  at  large.  It 
was  otherwise  with  the  explorations  of  Carpini,  of  Paibruquis, 
of  the  Polos,  and  of  the  early  Italian  voyagers  who  first 
sought  the  '  way  by  sea  to  the  ports  of  India  to  trade  there.' 
And  here  we  may  repeat  that  the  renaissance  of  Western 
Europe  in  the  Crusading  age  was  fully  as  much  an  intel- 
lectual as  a  material  and  political  movement.  Science  was 
at  last  touched  and  changed  by  the  new  life  as  completely 
as  the   arts    of    war,   of  travel,   of  trade,   or    of   missionary 


I.]        PROGRESS  OF  GEOGRAPHICAL  STUDY         9 

enterprise.  And  among  other  branches  of  science  none 
made  greater  progress  than  Geography.  Eoger  Bacon  and 
Albert  of  Bollstadt  made  distinct  advances  on  all  previous 
mediaeval  workers  in  this  as  in  other  fields.  Plato  of  Tivoli, 
Gerard  of  Cremona,  Adelard  of  Bath,  represented  the  new 
spirit  in  Christian  learning,  which  gladly  confessed  its 
obligations  to  Moslem  teachers,  and  did  good  service  in  the 
translation  and  adaptation  of  Arabic  texts  for  the  use  of 
Latin  Christians.  Descriptive  geography  shows  a  remark- 
able improvement,  and  may  indeed  be  considered  to  have 
recovered  no  small  part  of  the  spirit  of  Strabo.  The  purely 
theoretical  labours  of  Bacon,  Albert,  Adelard,  and  the  rest, 
must  be  left  to  a  subsequent  part  of  this  enquiry ;  but  they 
may  fairly  be  alluded  to  here,  as  technically  falling  within 
the  present  period.  On  the  other  hand,  some  detailed 
reference  is  given  in  this  volume  to  the  Byzantine  geography, 
so  admirably  represented  by  the  '  Porphyrogennetos,'  Con- 
stantine  VII.  (who,  in  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century, 
described  the  neighbours,  vassals,  and  subjects  of  the  Graeco- 
Boman  state),  as  well  as  to  the  principal  Western  rival,  in  pre- 
Crusading  times,  of  the  Imperial  student  of  Constantinople. 
For,  little  more  than  a  century  after  the  appearance  of  the 
royal  author's  treatise  on  the  Administration  of  the  Eastern 
Empire  (c.  a.d.  953),  Adam  of  Bremen  gave  a  better  survey 
of  '  Northern  Parts '  and  of  recent  discoveries  in  the  same, 
than  had  yet  been  attempted,  better  indeed  than  had  yet 
been  possible.  The  explorations  of  the  Vikings  had  passed 
almost  unnoticed  by  the  main  stream  of  European  thought, 
but  the  Annalist  of  the  Church  of  Hamburg  (c.  a.d.  1070) 
was  a  bright  exception  to  a  rule  of  ignorance  and  neglect. 
For  even  if  mediaeval  Catholicism  showed  little  practical 
interest  in  the  north-western  movement  of  the  tenth  and 
eleventh  centuries,  at  least  it  saved  itself,  by  Adam's  work, 


10  INTRODUCTION  [Ch. 

from  the  reproach  of  totally  forgetting  that  movement,  or 
of  omitting  to  enter  on  its  register  the  existence  of  a  fact  so 
memorable. 

Once  more,  the  diplomatic  and  missionary  travellers  of 
the  thirteenth  century  were  not  only  explorers  of  a  high 
order,  but  did  excellent  service  also  to  anthropology  by  their 
careful  observations  of  manners  and  customs,  to  philology 
by  their  judicious  enquiries  into  language,  and  to  ethnology 
by  their  truly  scientific  classification  of  the  chie'f  races  of 
Eastern  Europe  and  Northern  Asia.  It  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  they  were  the  first  Christian  writers, 
with  the  exception  of  some  Byzantines,  to  give  a  truly 
literary  character  to  geographical  writings ;  and  in  the 
person  of  the  encyclopaedist,  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  their  work 
is  closely  connected  with  the  Christian  philosophy  and 
universal  science  of  the  schoolmen's  ideal.  Eoger  Bacon 
also  is  deeply  indebted  to  Eubruquis,  just  as  Eubruquis 
and  all  other  practical  travellers  are  indebted  to  Bacon  for 
his  fruitful  study  of  nature,  a  study  which  included  some  of 
the  earliest  investigations  upon  the  polar  properties  of  the 
magnet.  In  the  West,  the  Oxford  scholar  is  only  preceded, 
in  this  last-named  discovery,  by  Alexander  Neckam,  the 
monk  of  St.  Albans,  by  Guyot  de  Provins,  the  Languedoc 
satirist  and  man  of  letters,  and,  more  doubtfully,  by  some 
of  the  daring  voyagers  of  the  Icelandic  Sea.1 

By  the  close  of  the  period  now  in  view  (a.d.  900-1260) 
the  magnet,  fitted  with  the  compass-card,  has  been  fully 
adapted,  at  least  in  the  Mediterranean,  to  the  use  of  seamen  ; 
an  elementary  but  approximate  method  of  ascertaining  posi- 
tions has  been  secured  by   means   of   the   Astrolabe ;    and 

1  CT.    Lanclnamabok,    as    referred    |  the  original  text  of  Landnamabok,h\\t 

to   in    Nordenskjold,    Periplus,    50;       is  an  insertion  of  about  1290-1300. 
but  this  passage  does  not  belong  to   | 


L]  GEOGRAPHICAL    SCIENCE    AND    CARTOGRAPHY        11 

no  less  important  advances  seem  to  have  been  made  in 
the  delineation  of  the  coast-lines  of  the  world-surface.  For, 
though  no  specimen  has  survived  of  the  new  Portolani,  or 
Handy  Outline-Maps,  anterior  to  1300,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  drawing  of  such  maps  commenced  some  years 
before  the  Carte  Piscine  was  executed ;  and  in  these 
maps  the  use  of  the  compass,  the  beginnings  of  modern 
survey-method,  and  the  proper  fixing  of  positions  by 
astronomical  determination,  are  for  the  first  time  observable 
in  cartography.  Within  the  limits  of  the  Crusading  time, 
indeed,  no  survivals  have  yet  been  discovered  of  this  new 
type  of  map;  on  the  contrary,  our  documents  furnish  us  only 
with  designs  of  the  normal  mediaeval  types.  But  even  here 
we  have  to  notice  a  marked  advance,  both  in  quantity  and 
quality,  upon  the  map-work  of  the  former  or  Dark  Age 
period  (a.d.  600-1000).  The  'Beatus'  examples,  of  which 
only  one,  and  that  the  rudest  of  all,  could  in  any  sense  be 
reckoned  as  falling  within  the  first  Christian  Millennium, 
continue  through  the  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  thirteenth 
centuries  to  be  reproduced  in  monkish  schools  ;  and  though 
none  of  these  copies  are  good  in  form,  they  occasionally 
contain  a  fair  amount  of  matter.  Especially  in  the  '  St. 
Sever,'  '  Osma,'  and  'Gerona'  manuscripts,  this  school  of 
map-making  shows  to  some  advantage  by  the  side  of  the 
usual  Arabic  monstrosities  of  this  time  ;  and  no  student 
of  mediaeval  geography  can  afford  to  neglect  the  Spanish 
variety  of  pictured  chart,  for  no  one  is  more  characteristic 
of  the  earlier  Middle  Ages.  The  eighth-century  cosmo- 
graphy of  the  Anonymous  Eavennese  Geographer  finds  a 
certain,  though  slight,  cartographical  explanation  in  the 
twelfth-century  maps  of  the  so-called  Guido  or  his  copyist. 
Another  important  family  of  Western  maps  is  to  be  found 
in  the  allied  designs  of  Henry  of  Mainz,  of  the  '  Psalter,' 


1 2  INTRODUCTION  [Ch. 

of  Hereford,  and  of  Ebstorf,  all  probably  descendants  of  an 
eleventh-century  original,  and  related  also  to  certain  twelfth- 
century  editions  of  two  ancient  sketches  illustrating  the 
works  of  St.  Jerome.  Better  in  form  than  any  of  these,  and 
in  all  probability  a  work  of  Irish  scholarship,  is  the  tenth 
century  '  Cottoniana,'  or  '  Anglo-Saxon '  map,  one  of  the 
geographical  surprises  of  a  period  whose  obscurity  and 
barbarism  are  not  without  glimpses  of  light  from  quarters 
outside  of,  and  neglected  by,  the  Teutonic  and  Latin  worlds. 
With  this  map  we  may  probably  connect  the  itinerary 
of  Archbishop  Sigeric  of  Canterbury  from  England  to  Rome 
(a.d.  990-994);  for  the  'Cottoniana'  was  perhaps  the  work 
of  an  Irish  scholar  known  to  Sigeric,  or  resident  in  his 
household.  Again,  rough  sketches  with  an  educational 
purpose,  exhibiting  the  various  zones  or  climates  and 
the  distribution  of  the  great  land  areas,  or  illustrating 
the  geographical  references  of  some  favourite  classical 
authors,  are  exceedingly  common  ;  and  examples  of  these 
may  be  found  in  Lambert  of  St.  Omer,  in  the  so-called 
T-O  and  '  climate-maps,'  and  in  the  Macrobius  and  Sallust- 
Designs.  The  work  of  Lambert,  connected  as  it  is  with  all 
these  families  of  elementary  geographical  world-plan,  is 
also  a  mappe-monde  of  considerable  scope  and  content, 
clearly  antique  in  its  detail,  and  recalling  in  the  twelfth 
century  the  pre-Christian  theories  of  Greek  speculators  on 
the  other  land  masses  supposed  to  exist  beyond  the  ocean 
to  the  south,  west,  or  east  of  the  Habitable  World  known 
to  man.  Lastly,  the  English  chronicler  Matthew  Paris 
has  left,  at  the  very  close  of  this  era,  a  local  map  of 
England  of  unusual  merit,  along  with  an  ordinary  and  dis- 
appointing mappe-monde,  and  several  smaller  essays  in 
cartography.  The  same  attempt  at  specialising  and  so 
improving  draughtsmanship,  by  a  rigid  limitation  of  view  to 


I]     CHRISTIAN  CARTOGRAPHY  :    MOSLEM  GEOGRAPHY      13 

an  area  with  which  the  designer  was  well  acquainted,  is 
observable  in  the  twelfth-century  Plan  of  Jerusalem  or  Situs 
Hicrusalem.  It  is  humiliating,  if  not  surprising,  to  find 
that  the  Byzantine  geographers  of  Justinian's  age  had 
executed  an  even  better  representation  of  the  Holy  City 
and  its  environs  more  than  six  hundred  years  before,  as 
shown  in  the  recently  discovered  mosaic  of  Madaba.  Less 
ancient  than  this,  and  of  far  less  value,  but  probably 
anterior  to  the  first  Crusade,  and  remarkable  as,  for  the 
first  time,  showing  us  Jerusalem  in  the  exact  centre  of 
a  round  world-sketch,  is  another  Byzantine  map  of  T-O 
pattern,  the  most  elaborate  example  of  its  kind,  which  has 
survived  in  a  Latin  transcript  of  1110. 

The  Moslem  Geography  of  this  period  (c,  950-1260)  must 
be  held  over  to  a  subsequent  volume  for  want  of  space,  but 
here  we  may  very  briefly  notice  how  it  continues  during 
these  centuries,  as  during  the  eighth  and  ninth,  to  pour  out 
an  enormous  mass  of  work  ;  the  greatest  of  Mohammedan 
encyclopaedists,  Yakut  the  Greek,  belongs  to  the  later 
twelfth  and  earlier  thirteenth  century ;  a  century  earlier, 
Edrisi  of  Ceuta  and  Palermo  accomplishes  the  most  famous 
of  Arabic  descriptions  of  the  Oikoumene  or  Habitable  World. 
In  the  tenth  century  Mukaddasi  and  Albiruni  (or  Abu 
Eihan)  show  themselves  to  be  worthy  successors  of  Masudi 
and  Ibn  Haukal ;  the  travels  of  Ibn  Mohalhal  recall  the  distant 
wanderings  and  hair-breadth  escapes  of  Sinbad  the  Sailor ; 
Nasir-i-Khusrau  of  Merv,  on  the  eve  of  the  first  Crusade, 
wins  a  reputation  as  a  master  in  the  literature  of  geography, 
if  not  in  the  annals  of  adventure ;  Al  Heravi  of  Herat, 
an  earlier  Ibn  Batuta,  traverses  almost  all  the  lands  of 
Islam,  '  scribbling  his  name  on  every  wall ' ;  and  these  are 
only  the  leading  figures  of  a  great  company.     On  that  more 


14  INTRODUCTION  [Ch. 

purely  scientific  side  of  geography,  where  the  Moslem 
students  of  earlier  time  had  accomplished  so  much, 
Albiruni  is  perhaps  the  greatest  name  of  any  Mussulman 
age  or  nation  ;  but  as  our  period  advances,  and  the  Spanish 
successes  of  the  tenth  century  are  followed  by  the  disasters 
of  the  eleventh,  the  re-action  of  the  twelfth  by  the  dis- 
ruption of  the  thirteenth,  it  becomes  ever  more  apparent 
that  Islam,  as  it  recedes  politically,  is  also  intellectually 
on  the  decline.  For  the  age  of  Philip  Augustus  and  Louis 
IX.  (118-1260)  witnesses  the  overthrow  of  all  the  great 
Mohammedan  States  which  had  arisen  on  the  disruption  of 
the  undivided  Caliphate;  witnesses  the  extinction  of  the  chief 
line  of  the  Prophet's  successors,  who  for  500  years  had 
wielded  a  papal,  and  often  an  imperial,  power  at  Bagdad ; 
and  finally  witnesses,  as  the  complement  of  these  calamities, 
the  ruin  of  the  chief  schools  of  Moslem  culture. 

China,1  during  most  of  this  period,  has  much  less  to  do 
with  the  Western  world  than  before  the  revolution  of  a.d. 
880.  Internal  troubles,  partly  caused  by  the  older  foreign 
intercourse,  serve  as  the  excuse  for  a  long  reign  of  com- 
parative exclusiveness  ;  but  even  during  this  time  relations  are 
not  wholly  broken  off  between  Islam  and  the  Middle 
Kingdom.  The  earlier  Christianity  of  Nestorian  type, 
so  prominent  in  the  eighth  century  and  the  time  of  the 
Singanf u  inscription,  fades  almost  entirely  out  of  sight ;  on 
the  other  hand,  the  faith  of  the  Koran  gains  many  proselytes. 
The  incessant  warlike  activities  of  Central  Asia  and 
'  Chinese  Turkestan'  become  at  times  a  barrier  to  any 
overland   travel :   the   unity   of   China  itself  is  broken    up  ; 

kept  over  from  this  volume  for  want 
of  space  ;  the  following  summary, 
however,  gives  the  chief  points  of 
celestial  activity. 


1  The  detailed  account  of  Chinese 
explorations  and  geographical  study 
during  this  time,  from  the  tenth  to 
the  thirteenth  centuries,  has  also  to  be 


I.]  MOSLEM    AND    CHINESE    GEOGRAPHY  15 

dynasty  succeeds  dynasty  in  a  series  of  bewildering 
revolutions;  both  the  North  and  South,  both  the 
Ho-ang-ho  and  the  Yang-tse-kiang,  are  desolated  by 
anarchy ;  and  the  weakness  of  the  divided  nation  exposes 
it  to  subjugation  in  detail  by  the  arms  of  Ghenghiz 
Khan  and  his  successors. 

After  the  Mongol  conquest  an  extraordinary  freedom  of 
intercourse  is  restored ;  even  European  and  Christian 
travellers  now  penetrate  to  the  Far  East,  and,  what  is  still 
more  noticeable,  repeate  1  embassies  make  their  way  from 
China  to  the  Western  world.  Just  as  in  the  remote  past 
Chang-kiang  (b.c.  135)  and  Pan-chao  (a.d.  94-102)  had 
travelled  or  conquered  as  far  as  the  shores  of  the  Caspian 
and  the  borders  of  Persia  and  India,  so  now  in  the  earlier 
thirteenth  century  Chang-chun  and  others  journey  at 
the  command  of  the  new  Tartar  sovereigns  of  Asia  to  the 
Mongol  camps  in  Afghanistan,  Persia,  and  Georgia.  Chinese 
spies  are  sent  by  the  Mongol  Government  into  the  countries 
of  Western  Europe 1  in  the  same  way  that  Carpini, 
Ptubruquis,  Ascelin,  and  their  companions  are  despatched  by 
the  Pope  or  the  temporal  sovereigns  of  Christendom  to  the 
courts  and  camps  of  the  Tartar  Empire.  The  opening  of  China 
and  Central  Asia  (in  a  new  and  fuller  sense)  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  Christian  AVest  is  the  work  of  the  unifying,  levelling, 
and  anti-fanatical  Mongols,  who  break  down  the  old  walls 
of  partition  at  the  same  time  that  they  erase  not  a  few  of  the 
old  landmarks  of  former  civilisation.  With  the  restoration 
of  a  native  Chinese  dynasty,  and  with  the  expulsion  of 
Kublai  Khan's  descendant  from  Pekin,  the  old  exclusion, 
the  old  fanaticism,  the  old  barriers,   are  restored  ;   but  for 

1  Cf.  the  later  embassy  of  the  Nes-  i  (c.  a.d.  1282)  Rome,  Paris,  and 
torian  monk,  Rabban  Cauma,  an  Bordeaux,  which  he  calls  the  capital 
Uigur,     bom   at    Pekin,    who   visits   |    of  England. 


16  INTRODUCTION  [Ch.  I. 

Europeans  the  former  ignorance,  fear,  and  imprisonment  of 
spirit  has  for  ever  passed  away ;  and  among  the  practical 
objects  of  the  new  time  none  is  more  ardently  pursued 
than  the  re-discovery  and  exploitation  of  Cathay  and  India. 
The  overland  missions  end  in  failure,  but  their  place  is 
taken  by  the  explorers,  traders,  and  preachers  who  find 
new  ways  across  the  ocean  ;  to  follow  in  the  steps  of  Marco 
Polo  becomes  the  dream  of  every  adventurous  spirit ;  and  the 
revelation  which  the  thirteenth  century  brings  to  European 
civilisation  has  permanent  and  vitalising  results  for  every 
Christian  nation. 


(     17     ) 


CHAPTEE  II 

l'HE  NORSEMEN  IN  THE  HISTORY  OF  EXPLORATION  TO  THE 
BEGINNING  OF  THE  CRUSADES 


The  discoveries,  conquests,  and  colonies  of  the  Norsemen 
from  the  White  Sea  to  America,  throw  the  first  glimpses 
of  light  upon  many  parts  of  that  '  barbarian '  world  of 
which  ancient  science,  trade,  and  politics  had  known  little 
or    nothing.1     And,    indeed,    it    was    natural    that    here,    if 


1  The  numerous  Foreign  Coins  in 
Norse  Countries  of  course  do  not 
prove  that  the  Roman  world  had  a 
first  -  hand  knowledge  of  North- 
Eastern  Europe,  but  they  point  to 
a  considerable  trading  intercourse  in 
the  later  classical  time  and  the 
earlier  Middle  Age,  such  as  is 
further  illustrated  by  the  notes  of 
Pytheas  upon  the  amber  commerce, 
by  the  order  of  Germanicus  to  his 
fleet  to  sail  to  the  amber  island 
(Glaesaria),  and  hy  the  Knight  sent  to 
the  amber  coast  by  Julianus,  Nero's 
manager  of  gladiatorial  shows.  Cf 
Pliny,  Natural  History,  Book 
xxxvii.,  ch.  ii.  The  'Knight'  here 
mentioned  visited  the  amber  markets 
of  the  Baltic  coasts,  traversed  the 
regions  of  Germany  abounding  in 
amber,  and  brought  back  such  a 
quantity  that  the  nets  used  for  pro- 
tecting the  '  podium' (i.e.  the  spec- 
tators) at   the  amphitheatre  against 


the  wild  beasts  were  studded  with 
this  article. 

Among  the  coins  may  be  noticed 
e.g. — (1)  Roman;  of  the  following 
Emperors;  Augustus,  Claudius,  Nero, 
Galba,  Otho,  Vitellins,  Vespasian, 
Titus,  Domitian,  Nerva,  Trajan, 
Hadrian,  Antoninus  Pius,  Marcus 
Aurelius,  Commodus,  Pertinax,  Sep- 
timius  Severus,  Caracalla  and  Geta, 
Macrinus,  Elagabalus,  Alexander 
Severus,  Valens,  Valentinian  I., 
Gratian,  Gordian,  Gallienus,  Aur- 
elian,  Tacitus,  Decius,  Probus,  Cams, 
Numeric  n,  Carinus,  Diocletian, 
Maximian,  Constantius  Chlorus, 
Licimus,  Constantine  the  Great, 
Constantine  II.,  Constantius,  Con- 
stans,  Honorius,  Valentinian  III., 
Majorian,  Libius  Severus,  Anthemius, 
Romulus  Augustulus,  etc. 

('2)  Byzantine  or  of  the  Eastern 
Empire  after  Theodosius  the  Great ; 
Theodosius  II..  Marcian,  Leo  I.,  Zeno, 


18 


THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION 


[Oh. 


anywhere,  in  'Polar'  lauds,  rather  than  in  Mediterranean 
countries,  European  enterprise  should  first  show  signs  of 
new  life  after  the  paralysis  of  the  Dark  Ages.  From 
the  rise  of  Islam  the  Saracens  controlled  the  great  trade 
routes  of  the  south  and  east.  It  was  only  on  the  west 
and  north  that  the  coast  was  clear — of  all  but  natural 
dangers. 

In  the  Moslem  world  men  'of  the  market-place'  were 
now  busy  in  following  up  old  lines  of  trade,  or,  as  in 
Eastern  Africa,  were  discovering  and  exploiting  new  and 
more  promising  routes  ;  men  of  science  were  commenting 
o?i  the  ancient  texts  of  Greek  and  Latin  learning,  or 
adapting  them  to  enlarged  knowledge.  But  in  Christendom, 
in  the  long  atrophy  of  mental  and  physical  activity 
which  covers  most  of  the  seventh,  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth 
centuries  of  our  era,  the  practical  energy  of  heathen 
enemies  (for  the  Northmen  were  not  seriously  touched 
by  Christian  influence  till  long  after  they  had  become  a 
terror  to  Europe)  was  the  first  sign  of  permanent  revival. 


Anastasius,  Justin  I.,  Justinian, 
Tiberius  II.,  Maurice,  Constantine 
Copronymus,  Michael  III.  Several 
others  belonging  to  co-emperors,  pre- 
tenders, the  lesser  princelings  of  the 
last  years  of  the  Western  Empire  and 
consorts  of  various  emperors  have 
also  been  brought  to  light ;  besides  a 
vast  number  of  barbaric  imitations 
and  of  defaced  and  unreadable  coins. 
The  earliest  coins  found  in  Gottland 
are  those  of  Augustus.  Then  follow 
those  of  Nero,  and  coins  of  all  the 
different  emperors  to  Alexander 
Severus  ;  the  greatest  number  are 
those  of  Trajan  ;  Hadrian ;  Antoninus 
Pius ;  Faustina,  wife  of  Antoninus 
Pius  ;  Marcus  Aurelius  ;  Faustina, 
wife     of     Marcus     Aurelius  ;      and 


Commodus.  In  Hagestaborg  the  most 
numerous  were  the  three  Antonines  ; 
the  earliest  was  one  of  Nero,  the 
latest  one  of  Septimius  Severus. 

The  Byzantine  coins  from  Con- 
stantine the  Great  are  mostly  orna- 
mental. A  few  coins  of  the  Re- 
publican Period  have  also  been  found 
in  Norse  countries  ;  e.g.  of  the 
families  of  Lucretia,  Naevia,  Sulpicia, 
Funa,  Publicia,  Postumia,  Procelia. 
Tituria,  Yeturia,  Sicinia. 

Many  Arabic  and  other  mediaeval 
coins  have  also  been  found  in  Scan- 
dinavian lands  (see  pp.  462-4?z.  of  this 
volume),  as  well  as  an  immense 
number  of  other  objects  from  the 
Southern  world. 


II.  CHIEF    LINES    OF    NORSE    ACTIVITY  19 

With  the  awakening  of  physical  energy  and  daring  came 
that  of  mental  and  spiritual  vigour;  the  whole  life  of  the 
Middle  Ages  began  afresh  with  the  conversion  of  Scandi- 
navia, of  Kussia,  and  of  Hungary ;  but,  in  the  abundant 
and  brilliant  force  of  the  mediaeval  renaissance,  we  must 
recognise  the  work  of  those  Norsemen  who  had  breathed 
something  of  their  own  spirit  into  every  Christian 
nation. 

The  Norse  discoveries  were  not  only  the  first,  they  were 
beyond  comparison  the  chief,  victories  of  European  travel 
and  enterprise,  in  the  truly  Unknown  World,  between  the 
time  of  Constantine  and  the  Crusades.  The  central  fact  of 
European  expansion  in  the  Dark  Ages  is  the  advance  of  the 
Scandinavian  adventurers  and  settlers  to  the  west,  the  south, 
and  the  east  in  the  last  two  hundred  years  of  the  first 
Christian  Millennium. 

Of  the  three  main  lines  of  northern  advance,  the  first, 
the  western  or  north-western,  running  by  Caithness,  the 
Orkneys,  the  Shetlands,  and  the  Faroes,  reached  Iceland, 
Greenland,  Baffin's  Bay,  and  the  shores  of  Newfoundland, 
Labrador,  and  Nova  Scotia ; 1  but,  from  the  settlements  on 
the  coasts  and  islands  of  Northern  Britain,  a  fresh  wave  of 
pirates  and  colonists  swept  down  south-west  into  the  narrow 
seas  of  St.  George's  Channel,  and  beat  upon  the  north  and 
east  of  Ireland  and  upon  the  western  coasts  of  England 
and  of  '  Bretland.' 

The  second  invasion  ran  along  the  North  German  shore, 
and,  reaching  the  Straits  of  Dover,  fell  upon  both  sides  of 
the  Channel,  only  varying  in  strength  as  the  resistance  was 
stronger  or  weaker  in  England  or  in  France.  Pushing  on 
along  this  sea-path,  the  more  daring  adventurers  united  (off 

1  Perhaps  even  Massachusetts,  but   I    Voyages,  344-67),  it  is  not  necessary 
as   Dr.    Storm  has  shown    {Vinlancl   I    to  bring  Vinlaiid  so  far  South. 


20       THE  NORSEMEN  AND  EXPLORATION       [Ch. 

Cornwall  and  the  Scilly  Isles)  with  their  Ostmen  brethren 
from  Ireland,  and  sailed  on  to  the  plunder  of  the  Bay  of 
Biscay  and  of  Northern  Spain.  It  was  not  long  before  some  of 
them  had  found  out  the  wealth  and  weakness  of  the  Moslem 
Kingdom  of  Cordova,  and  were  trying  to  force  their  way 
up  the  Douro  and  the  Tagus.  From  the  great  Northman 
settlement  on  the  Seine  new  and  ever  more  daring  ventures 
brought  little  groups  of  '  Normans '  to  South  Italy  and 
Sicily,  who  formed  a  kingdom  of  the  two  Sicilies,  carried 
their  ravages  to  the  Saracen  ports  of  North  Africa, 
and  gave  to  a  Norman  prince  the  momentary  lordship 
over  much  of  Tunis;  just  as  from  the  same  Normandy  a 
greater  stream  of  conquest  flowed  across  the  Narrow  Sea 
to  overwhelm  the  Old  English  State. 

On  the  third  or  eastern  side  of  the  Norse  expansion 
there  are  likewise  two  main  divisions  ;  one  taking  its  road 
across  the  Baltic,  and  proceeding  north-east  to  Finland  and 
due  east  to  Novgorod  and  Kussia,  the  other  coasting  along 
Norway  to  Fin  mark  and  the  North  Cape  of  Europe,  to  the 
Murman  coast  of  Lapland  and  the  country  of  the  Biarina- 
men  T  on  the  White  Sea  and  the  Dvina. 

The  field  of  this  activity  was  indeed  immense,  but  it  was 
covered  with  a  rapidity  no  less  astonishing.  It  was  in  the 
later  years  of  Charles  the  Great  (790  to  814)  that  the 
Viking  Keels  first  alarmed  the  Frankish  coasts.  In  797 
they  made  their  first  descent  on  England ; 2  before  the 
middle  of  the  ninth  century  they  were  threatening  the  whole 
shore-line  of  Christendom,  from  Galicia  to  the  Elbe ;  in  840 
they  founded  their  first  kingdom  in  Ireland,  and  even 
earlier  than  this  thev  had  become  the  terror  of  the  Hebrides, 


1  '  Perm.' 

2  Cf.  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle, 
under  the  year  787,  'In  his  days' 
[i.e.  the  West-Saxon  KingBerhtric's, 
a.d.  785-802]  .   .   .    'first  came  three 


ships  of  Northmen.  .  .  .  The  reeve 
rode  to  the  place  and  would  have 
driven  them  to  the  king's  town  and 
thev  slew  him,' 


".]  VALUE    OF    NORSK    DISCOVERIES  21 

the  Shetlands,  and  the  Orkneys;1  from  860  commenced 
their  attempts  upon  Iceland  ;  in  802  Rurik  and  his  men 
founded  the  Central  State  of  mediaeval  Russia.  Pressing 
on  into  still  wider  fields,  they  sighted  Greenland  soon  after 
877  ;2  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  ninth  century  they  brought 
their  ships  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  present"  Arch- 
angel, and  in  the  first  years  of  the  tenth  they  won 
Normandy  from  Charles  the  Simple  by  the  treaty  of  Claire- 
sur-Epte  (922).3  This  advance  is  almost  as  rapid  as  that  of 
the  early  Saracens.  Within  a  hundred  years  from  the  first 
disturbance  of  the  old  local  independence  by  the  levelling 
power  of  the  new  national  kingdoms,  within  three  generations 
from  Halfdan  the  Black,  the  Vikings,  first  as  ocean  rovers 
and  buccaneers,  then  as  rebellious  emigrants,  and  finally 
as  founders  of  new  states,  had  reached  and  passed  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  Old  World  to  north  and  west,  from 
'  Jacob's  Land'4  to  Finmark,  and  from  Ireland  to  the  Baltic. 

Much  of  this  of  course  was  only  the  passing  of  a  more 
active  race  over  ground,  which  had  once  been  wrell  known, 
even  if  much  of  it  was  now  being  forgotten.  But  in  the 
far  north-east  and  north-west,  the  Norsemen  clearly  enlarged 
the  horizon  of  knowledge — in  the  plains  of  Eastern  Europe, 
in  the  shorelands  of  North  America,  and  along  the  coasts  and 
islands  of  the  Arctic  Seas. 

On  the  side  of  America  indeed  the  Norse  discoveries  were 
not  only  an  advance  upon  all  that  the  older  geography  had 
known ;  they   remained,    throughout    the    Middle    Ages,    an 


1  Cf.  Dicuil,  De  Mensura  Orbis 
terrae  (written  in  825),  vii.  15  (  =  vii. 
2,  3,  Letronne). 

2  The  traditional  date  of  Gunn- 
biorn's  discovery,  winch  the  be.st 
modern  critics  would  bring  down  a 
generation  later,  to  the  early  years 
of  the  tenth  century. 


3  The  '  Norman '  settlement  began 
c.  912  ;  the  treaty  was  c.  922. 

4  Galicia  in  North-West  Spain,  so 
named  from  the  Shrine  of  St.  James 
(Santiago)  at  Compostella.  On  the 
Scandinavians  in  Spain,  see  pp.  Ill, 
176-9,  of  this  volume  ;  Dozy,  Rcclier- 
ches.  ii...  especially  pp.  295,  329-340. 


22  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Oh. 

unique  achievement.  The  Venetian,  Welsh,  Arabic,  and 
other  claims  to  have  rivalled  the  Scandinavians  in  this  field 
are  utterly  unsubstantial  and  untrustworthy.  Ic  is  a  fairly 
certain  fact  that  about  the  year  of  Christ  1000,  the  north- 
west line  of  Viking  advance  reached  at  least  as  far  as  the 
north-east  shores  of  New  England.  Against  all  other 
mediaeval  voyages  to  the  Western  Continent  one  verdict 
only  can  stand,  a  verdict  of  Not  Proven. 

The  other  lines  of  Norse  advance,  though  marked  by 
equal  daring  and  far  greater  military  prowess,  have  less 
originality,  and  occupy  a  much  smaller  place  in  the  history 
of  exploration.  There  was  roving  and  fighting  in  plenty, 
the  giving  and  taking  of  hard  knocks  with  every  nation, 
from  the  White  Sea  to  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  and  from 
Limerick  to  Constantinople ;  and,  as  the  Vikings  discovered 
new  lands  (new  at  least  to  themselves),  they  re-named  most 
of  the  capes  and  coasts,  the  rivers,  islands,  and  countries 
of  Europe,  North  Africa,  and  Western  Asia.  Thus,  Galicia 
became  '  Jacob's-Land  '  ;  Islam,  outside  '  Spanland,'  passed 
into  '  Serk-'  or  '  Saracen-Land ' ;  the  Negro  or  even  the 
Moorish  countries  were  the  '  Lands  of  the  Bluemen.'  The 
Hebudes  or  Hebrides  were  the  '  South  Isles ' ;  Northern 
and  Western  France  '  Valland  ' ;  North  Germany  '  Saxland ' ; 
the  East  Slav  or  Russian  country  '  Gardar,'  '  Gardariki,'  or 
the  '  Garth-realm.'  The  city  of  Constantine  was  the  Great 
Town  or  '  Miklagarth' ;  Novgorod  was  '  Holmgarth  '  ;  but 
this  was  a  State  which  owed  its  greatness  to  a  Viking 
migration,  and  was  long  connected  by  ties  of  peculiar 
intimacy  with  the  Scandinavian  lauds.  Moreover,  it  belongs 
to  the  field  where  Norse  enterprise  broke  fresh  ground ; 
to  the  south  and  south-west,  on  the  contrary,  no  rebel 
Vikings,  or  royalist  hunters  of  such  rebels,  sailed  the  seas 
beyond    the    limits    of    the    classical    geography ;    and,    as 


II. 1  UBIQUITY    OF    THE    NORSEMEN  23 

pilgrims,  traders,  travellers,  and  conquerors  in  the  Medi- 
terranean, their  work  was  of  course  not  one  of  exploration, 
They  bore  a  foremost  part  in  breaking  down  the  Moslem 
rule  in  Southern  Europe ;  they  visited  the  Holy  Sites — 

'When  sacred  Hierosolyma  they'd  relieved 
And  fed  their  eyes  on  Jordan's  holy  Hood, 
Which  the  dear  body  of  Lord  God  had  laved,' — 

they  fought  as  '  Varangian '  bodyguards  in  the  armies 
of  the  great  Byzantines,  Nikephoros  Phokas,  John  Tzi- 
miskes,  Basil  II.,  or  Maniakes ;  but  in  all  this  they  dis- 
covered for  themselves  rather  than  for  Europe. 

One  of  the  most  typical  references  to  Geography  in  the 
Sagas  is  in  the  famous  chapter  at  the  beginning  of  the 
mythology  of  the  Heimshringla : — '  On  the  situation  of 
countries.'  '  It  is  said  that  the  earth  -  circle  which  the 
human  race  inhabits  is  much  cut  asunder  with  bights  and 
bays,  and  that  great  seas  run  into  the  land  from  the  outer 
ocean.  Of  a  certainty,  it  is  known  that  a  sea  goes  in  at 
Norva  Sound,1  right  up  to  the  land  of  Jerusalem ;  and  from 
that  sea,  again,  a  long  bay,  which  is  called  the  Black  Sea, 
goes  off  to  the  north-east,  and  it  divides  the  two  World- 
Ridings,  that  is  to  say,  Asia  on  the  east  from  Europe  on 
the  west.  To  the  north  of  the  Black  Sea  lies  Sweden  the 
Great,  or  the  Cold ;  and  this  is  reckoned  by  some  as  not  less 
in  size  than  the  Great  Saracen-Land,  or  even  the  Great  Land 

1  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  so  named  I  honour  to  Skopti  Ogmundson,  at  the 
traditionally  from  one  Norva,  sup-  j  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century, 
posed  to  be  the  first  Norseman  who    j    Skopti  sailed  with  five  long  ships  in 


passed  through  this  channel,  in  the 
tenth  century.  But  they  had  cer- 
tainly gone  through  the  Straits  in  the 
ninth  and  even  in  the  eighth  century, 


harvest  to  Flanders ;  was  there  the 
winter ;  early  in  spring  went  on  to 
Valland ;  in  summer  passed  through 
Norva  Sound ;  in  harvest-time  arrived 


as  Dozy  has  shown,  Recherches,  vol.  ii.  j  at  Rome.  There  Skopti  died.  'Men 
p.  295.  On  the  other  hand,  Magnus  said  he  was  the  first  Norseman  to  sail 
Barefoot's  Saga,  ch.  xxii.,  gives  this       through  Norva  Sound,'  etc. 


24 


THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION 


[Ch. 


of  the  Bluemen.1  And  the  northern  parts  of  this  Sweden  lie 
unpeopled  by  reason  of  the  frost  and  the  cold,  just  as  the 
southern  parts  of  Blue-Land  2  are  waste  because  of  the  sun's 
burning.  Mighty  lordships  are  there  in  this  Sweden,  and 
peoples  of  manifold  kind  and  speech  ;  there  are  giants  and 
there  are  dwarfs — aye,  and  Bluemen,3  and  folk  of  many  kinds 
and  marvellous,  and  wild  beasts,  and  dragons  wondrous  great. 
Out  of  the  north,  from  those  mountains  which  lie  outside  of 
all  peopled  lands,  there  comes  a  river  which  is  rightly  called 
Tanais,4  and  this  falls  into  the  ocean  at  the  Black  Sea,  dividing 
Asia  from  Europe.' 

It  seems  impossible  to  identify  with  present-day  sites  the 
famous  places  of  the  Norse  Mythology  ;  even  Asgard,5  Asgarth, 
or  Gods-town,  can  only  be  conjectured,  and  is,  perhaps, 
no  place-name  at  all,  but  a  term  like  the  'Age  of  Gold,' 
expressive  of  a  supposed  condition  of  the  race  at  an  early 
period.  Here  and  there,  however,  even  the  Mythical  Sagas 
plainly  refer  to  natural  facts.  Thus  the  great  mountain 
barrier  from  north-east  to  south-west,  which  parted  Great 
Sweden  from  other  kingdoms,  may  well  be  an  allusion  to 
the  Ural  Bange.0  Again,  we  are  told  that  Odin  wandered 
westward  to  the  Garth-realm  or  '  Gardariki,'  and  south  to 
'  Saxland,' 7  where  he  made  himself  a  great  kingdom.  These 
are  the  terms  in  regular  use,  by  the  Norsemen  of  the  historical 
time,  for  the  mediaeval  Bussian  and  German  lands.      Once 


1  Or  Negroes. 

2  Negro- Land. 

8  Here  perhaps  Samoyedes. 

4  The  Don.  Of  old  it  was  called 
Tanabranch  or  Yanabranch,  adds  the 
Saga ;  the  land  between  the  Vana- 
niouths  was  then  called  Vanland  or 
Vanhome ;  cf.  ch.  i.  of  the  Ynglinga 
Saga. 

5  Those  who  attempt  identification 
make  Asgard  either  (1)  Assor,  or  (2) 


Chasgar  in  the  Caucasus,  the  As- 
purgum  of  Strabo.  Ynglinga  Saga, 
ch.  ii.,  fixes  Asgard  east  of  Tana- 
branch in  Asia,  in  the  land  of  Asland 
or  Ashome,  of  which  it  was  the  chief 
burg. 

0  Ch.  v.  of  Ynglinga  Saga. 

7  Ch.  v.  and  ch.  xxxii.  of  Ynglinga 
Saga.  The  term  'Garth-realm'  is, 
though  quite  exceptionally,  used  also 
for  the  Byzantine  empire. 


I'.]        THE  EARLIEST  NORSE  GEOGRAPHY         25 

more,  it  is  clear  that  a  principal  object  of  the  mythological 
narratives  is  to  tell  ns  about  Odin's  settlement  in  Sweden, 
and  the  daring  exploits  of  the  oldest  Norsemen  upon  the 
ocean.1  Even  in  those  days  there  were  many  '  Sea-Kings 
who  ruled  over  men,  but  had  no  lands '  ;  when  '  he  alone 
might  be  called  a  Sea-King  who  never  slept  beneath  sooty 
roof  timbers,  and  never  drank  at  the  hearth  nook.' 2  Even 
then,  too,  it  was  known  that  Sweden  had  '  such  great  wild 
woods '  that  it  was  many  clays'  journey  across  them.  From 
this  Sweden  it  was  that  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  im- 
portant Viking  movements  proceeded  just  a  thousand  years 
ago.  In  860-862  the  Russian  Slavs  of  the  North, — or  a 
Scandinavian  colony  dominating  these  Slavs,  and  living 
about  old  Novgorod  on  Lake  Ilmen.  about  Lake  Ladoga, 
and  about  Isborsk, — asked  for  help  against  their  hostile 
brethren  of  the  South,  living  about  Kiev ;  and  in  answer 
to  this  appeal  Rurik  and  his  war-band  arrived  from  the 
lands  of  Upsala,  and  founded  those  mediaeval  Russian 
states,  which  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries  were 
first  the  stealthy  plunderers,  then  the  open  enemies,  and 
finally  the  allies  in  faith  and  in  arms,  of  the  Byzantine 
Empire.  So  the  oldest  Russian  annals3  gave  the  story; 
and  in  its  main  lines  it  may  be  accepted  as  fairly  repre- 
senting the  truth  of  an  early  pre-Christian  intercourse, 
between  Scandinavia  and  the  Eastern  Slavs,  which  had 
results  of  the  first  importance,  and  practically  created  a 
new  European  national  centre. 

From    the   ninth  to  the  twelfth  century   the   intercourse 

1  Ch.  vii.  of   Ynglinga  Saga  men-    j        3  Cf.  Nestor s  Chronicle,  chs.   xiii. 


tions  Odin's  ship  Skidbladnir, '  where- 
in he  would  fare  over  mighty  seas,' 
and  which  he  could  '  fold  together  like 
a  napkin.' 

"  Ch.  xxxiv.  of  Ynglinga  Saga. 


xv.  ;  under  the  years,  a.m.  6368-70 
(  =  a.d.  S60-8G2).  In  a.D.  850,  ac- 
cording to  Nestor,  the  Russian  land 
'  beffan  to  take  its  name.' 


26  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Oh. 

of  Swedes,  Danes,  and  Northmen  with  the  Russian  princi- 
palities of  '  Gardariki '  was  constant  and  close  ;  and  perhaps 
most  of  all  in  the  time  of  the  Vinland  voyages,  when 
Vladimir  and  Yaroslav  reigned  in  Novgorod,  and  when  the 
two  Olafs — the  son  of  Tryggve  and  the  Saint — found  refuge 
at  that  Court  from  the  troubles  of  their  own  distracted 
Norway.  Marriage  alliances  between  the  Princes  of  Gardar 
and  those  of  Sweden  are  recorded  x  at  least  half  a  century 
before  the  expedition  of  Rurik  ;  and  in  the  later  development 
of  the  Russian  people  this  Scandinavian  element  perhaps 
counted  for  nearly  as  much  as  in  some  other  countries  where 
it  has  been  more  fashionable  to  trace,  and  sometimes  to 
exaggerate,  the  'influence  of  the  Northmen.' 

Considered  as  an  organised  and  united  state,  the  Norse 
Kingdom  began  with  Halfdan  the  Black  and  his  son  Harald 
Fairhair,  at  the  same  time  that  Danish  unity  was  first 
achieved  under  Gorm  the  Old  (860-935).  These  great 
chiefs  attacked,  shook,  and  finally  brought  to  an  end  the 
old  local  independence ;  and  one  result  of  this  was  a 
strengthening  of  the  Scandinavian  movement  of  expansion 
and  aggression  upon  the  outer  world.  For  now,  in  the  dis- 
content that  arose  '  when  Harald  seized  on  the  lands 2  of 
Norway,  the  Outlands  were  found  and  peopled,  and  especially 
the  Faroes,  and  Shetland,  and  Iceland,'  and  the  rebel  Vikings 
who  fled  before  the  new  monarch  took  to  piracy  in  the 
Western  Sea  ;  in  winter  they  made  their  home  in  the  Orkneys 
and  the  Hebrides,3  and  in  summer  they  pillaged  as  far  as 
Norway.     But  after  some  years  Harald  grew  tired  of  chasing 


1  Cf.    Icelandic   Landnamabok,   p. 

195,  in  the  genealogy  of  Thorbiorn. 
'  Gorm  was  a  duke  in   Sweden  .   .   . 


nusson.   Saga  Library,  vol.  i.,   Pref. 
p.  xviii. 

2  I.e.  the  tribal  kingdoms. 


his  son  married  a  daughter  of  Burislav,  .  3  Sudreyar,  the  'South  isles'  or 
King  of  Gardar,  in  the  East '  (c.  J  the  Hebrides,  ch.  xx.  of  Harald 
A. P.  820).    Cf.  also  Morris  and  Mag-       Fairhair's  Saga. 


H-]  HARALI)    FAIRHAIR    AND    THE    VIKINGS  27 

the  pirates  away  from  his  coast,  and  sailed  out  into   the 
North  Sea  in  pursuit  of  them. 

He  drove  them  out  of  Shetlands  and  Orkneys  and 
Hebrides,  and  even  out  of  Man  ;  he  ravaged  the  coasts  of 
Scotland  ;  and  in  the  islands  that  he  subdued  he  left  a 
deputy  to  govern  in  his  name  as  Earl.  Thus  was 
founded,  about  920,  the  Norse  Principality  of  the  Orkneys, 
whose  troubled  life  was  prolonged  almost  to  the  close  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  when  it  was  finally  absorbed  by  the 
Scottish  Kingdom.  From  these  Islands  the  Norsemen 
raided  Caithness  and  Sutherland,  winning  easy  triumphs 
over  the  Scots,  and  riding  off  to  their  ships  with  the  heads 
of  Scottish  chieftains  tied  to  their  horses.1  But  the  Orkney 
settlements  in  the  end  gave  more  trouble  than  profit  to 
the  central  kingdom,  and  in  exploration  (as  in  civilisation) 
they  seem  hardly  ever  to  have  become  a  real  starting-point 
of  further  progress.2 

Far  more  useful  in  these  respects  were  the  early  Viking 
colonies  in  the  Faroes.  From  these  islands,  as  early  as 
about  860,  one  of  the  Norse  leaders,  '  Nadodd,'  pushing 
into  the  ocean  to  the  far  north-west,  sighted  Iceland. 
He  gave  it  the  name  of  '  Snowlancl,'  and  reported  that  he 
had  found  a  desert  land  easy  of  settlement ;  but  his  was 
not  the  first  visit.  As  early  as  795  Irish  hermits  had 
passed  at  least  one  winter  on  its  shores,  and  the  traces 
of  their  cells  and  chapels — bells  and  ruins  and  crosses — 
were  quickly  noticed  by  the  Norsemen  when  they  began 
to  settle  there.3      Nadodd  was  followed   in  864  by  Gardar 


1  See  example  in  Ha  raid  Fair- 
hair's  Saga,  ch,  xxii. 

2  Though  rovers  who  haunted  the 
Orkneys  constantly  went  on  to 
Iceland. 

3  The  '  Westman's  Eyar '  or  Irish- 
man's Islands,  off  the  Iceland  coast, 


are  called  after  these  '  papar '  or 
priests.  The  early  Norse  settle- 
ments in  the  Shetlands  are  curiously 
commemorated,  among  other  things, 
by  the  name  '  Sholto '  or  '  the 
Shetlander ' — only  to  be  found  in 
Scotland  nnd  Iceland. 


28 


THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION 


[Oh. 


the  Swede,  who  called  the  new  land  after  himself;  by 
Eaven  Floke,  who  in  867  was  guided  by  the  flight  of 
birds1  to  the  same  country;  and  by  the  permanent  settlers 
of  874,2  led  by  Ingolf  and  Leif  and  other  sheep-farmers  of 
the  Faroes. 

Even  this  was  not  enough.  Three  years  later,  in  877, 
at  the  very  time  of  the  furthest  Danish  advance  in  England, 
when  Guthorm  had  driven  the  English  king  into  the  Isle 
of  Athelney,  the  Norsemen  reached  another  stage  in  their 
north-western  advance ;  for  now  Gunnbiorn 3  sighted  a 
reef  or  skerry  and  a  great  land  in  the  ocean  beyond 
Iceland,  which  lie  called 'White  Shirt '  from  its  snowflelds, 
and  which  Red  Eric,  a  century  later,  re-named  '  Greenland,' 
in  the  hope  of  a  'good  name'  attracting  settlers.  By  this 
discovery  the  Old  World  had  almost,  as  it  were,  stumbled 
upon  the  New. 

Geographically,  this  portion  of  the  Arctic  Continent 
falls  to  the  share  of  North  America  ;  and  once  its  fiords 
had  become  in  their  turn  centres  of  colonisation  and  of 
further  progress,  the  reaching  of  Labrador  and  Newfound- 
land was  natural  enough.  The  real  voyage  lay  between 
Cape  Farewell  and  the  European  Mainland ;  it  was  indeed 
a  stormy  and  dangerous  passage  from  the  Bays  of  South 
Greenland     to     the    western     regions     of    '  Helluland'     or 


1  Ravens.  These  birds,  saj^s  an 
early  addition  (c.  a.d.  1300)  to  the 
Icelandic  Landuamabok,  originally  a 
work  finished  before  1148,  were  of 
great  use  as  guides  to  the  sailors  of 
the  northern  countries,  who  had  not 
yet  any  lodestone.  Cf.  Nordenskjold, 
Periplus,  p.  50  (E.  trans). 

-  Some  think  all  these  dates  are 
about  thirty  3rears  too  early. 

y  Some  think,  however,  that  Gunn- 
hiorn's    voyage    was    of    later    date, 


about  910-920,  and  that  the  skerry 
which  he  saw  was  only  part  of  the 
high  reef  or  ridge  in  the  sea  be- 
tween Iceland  and  Greenland,  now 
under  water,  but  in  the  ninth  and 
tenth  centuries  possibly  above  the  sea 
in  ceriain  parts.  One  record  says 
that  Eric  went  to  Greenland  to  dis- 
cover the  land  which  Gunnbiorn,  son 
of  Ulf  the  Raven  (Kraka),  saw,  when 
he  was  driven  west  to  Iceland  and 
discovered  Gunnbiorn's  reef. 


II]  DISCOVERY    OF    ICELAND    AND    GREENLAND  29 

'Markland,'  but  the  journey  was  not  long,  and,  as  far 
as  can  be  judged  from  scanty  records,  it  was  neither  so 
cold  nor  so  ice-bound  as  at  present. 

But  exploration  had  outrun  settlement;  the  pace  of 
the  Norse  advance  on  this  side  slackened  for  a  hundred 
years;  and  it  was  not-till  984  or  986  that  Eric  the  Tied, 
exiled  for  manslaughter  by  the  Icelanders,  first  led  his 
countrymen  to  plant  themselves  in  '  Hvitserk.' 

In  this  venture  Eric  set  out  from  Snowfield-Jokul  in 
Iceland,  and  sailed  west  till  he  reached  land — on  the  east 
coast  of  Greenland — which  did  not  appear  very  suitable 
for  a  colony.  From  this  landfall  he  coasted  along  to 
the  south,  rounded  a  Cape  (which  he  named  'Hvarf'1  or 
'  Wrath,' and  which  moderns  call 'Farewell '),  and  wintered 
on  an  island  henceforth  known  by  his  name.  Three  years 
in  all  he  spent  on  this  coast,  prospecting  for  his  intended 
settlement ;  then  returning  to  Iceland,  he  brought  back 
so  good  a  report  of  the  land,  that  twenty- five  ships 
full  of  emigrants  followed  him  on  his  final  journey  to 
the  Green  Country.  Only  half  of  these  persevered  to  the 
end ;  and  with  them  the  leader  colonised  Eric's  Fiord, 
the  starting-point  of  a  still  more  distant  and  memorable 
series  of  adventures  in  the  next  generation. 

In  the  same  age  that  witnessed  the  conquests  of 
Halfdan  the  Black  and  Harald  Fairhair,  the  fiercest 
attacks  fell  upon  England,  France,  and  the  North  German 
lauds  from  the  coasts  of  Norway  and  Denmark.  From 
the  first  descent  upon  Wessex,  in  797,  their  invasions  of 
Britain  were  incessant  and  terrible,  but  for  a  long  time 
spasmodic  and  impermanent.  But  in  855  the  raiders 
for  the  first  time  wintered  in  Northumbria,  and  in  the 
next  twenty  years  they  pressed  continuously,  and  at  last 
1  Properly  '  Turn.' 


30 


THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION 


[Oh. 


overwhelmingly,  upon  a  large  part  of  England.  By  870 
they  had  mastered  nearly  the  whole  of  Northumbria  and 
Mercia ;  and  the  following  decade  was  marked  by  a 
desperate  fight  for  the  possession  of  Wessex,  which 
resulted  in  the  premature  triumph  of  Guthorm,  the  final 
victory  of  iElfred,  and  the  peace  of  Wedmore,  which 
confined  the  invaders'  rule  to  North  and  North -Eastern 
England  (877-878). 

In  876  the  Northmen  had  already  made  their  first 
settlement  in  France,  after  many  years  of  warfare ; l  and 
it  was  from  this  side  that  Hasting  drew  the  main  part  of 
his  strength  in  the  repeated  onslaughts  which  he  led  upon 
Wessex  at  the  end  of  Alfred's  reign  (891-896). 

The  rule  of  Harald  Fairhair,  by  its  ruthless  suppression  of 
Viking  piracy  near  home,  also  brought  about  the  Norse  con- 
quest of  Normandy.  Hrodulf,  Eholf,  or  Eolf  '  the  Ganger,' 
the  son  of  Eognvald  the  '  Mere  Earl,'  was  an  incor- 
rigible raider,  and  so  huge  that  no  horse  could  bear 
him ;  '  wherefore  he  went  always  on  foot,  and  from 
this  got  his  name.'  By  his  constant  plundering  on 
the  Baltic  coasts,2  he  so  enraged  the  king,  that  he 
made  Eolf  an  '  outlaw  from  all  Norway.'  His  father 
was  Harald  Fairhair's  dearest  friend,  and  his  mother  was 
a  poetess ; 3  but  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  could 
save    their   son    from    exile.      He    was    driven    west    over 


1  Marked  by  the  sack  of  Limoges, 
Bordeaux,  Tours,  Saintes,  Nantes, 
Toulouse,  Orleans,  Bayeux,  Evreux, 
Rouen,  and  other  places,  the  great 
simultaneous  attack  of  845  upon  all 
the  three  Frankish  kingdoms,  and 
the  various  sieges  of  Paris,  the  first 
of  which  was  in  845  (followed  by 
those  of  855,  861,  and  S85). 

2  '  Eastlands.' 

3  The   Saga   of  Harold   Fairhair, 


ch.  xxiv.,  gives  the  verses  that 
she  sang  to  the  king  to  dissuade 
him  : — '  Thou  hast  cast  off  Nefia's 
namesake ;  As  a  wolf  from  the  land 
thou  driv'st  him  ;  'Tis  ill  to  be  wild 
in  quarrel  With  a  wolf  of  Odin's  war- 
board.  If  he  fare  wild  in  the  forest 
He  shall  waste  thy  flock  right 
sorely.'  Rolf's  mother,  Hild,  was 
the  daughter  of  Rolf  Nefia. 


II.  1  VOYAGES    TO    W.   EUROPE    AND    WHITE    SEA  31 

sea  to  the  Hebrides ; l  thence  he  made  his  way  to  the 
North  Coast  of  France  and  conquered  Normandy.  From 
Normandy,  in  later  time,  started  the  free  lances,  who  built 
up  a  Norse  Kingdom  in  South  Italy,  as  well  as  the  host 
who,  under  a  certain  Bastard  "William,  Eolf's  greatest 
descendant,  conquered  the  Island  Kingdom  to  the  north. 

The  ambition  of  Harald  Fairhair  was  not  content  with 
one  expedition  to  Britain ;  for  soon  after  he  went  a 
second  time  to  the  Orkneys  to  crush  the  ever-turbulent 
pirates  of  the  Western  Islands ;  but  a  far  longer  and 
more  daring  voyage  was  that  of  his  son  Eric  in  about  930. 
When  the  boy  was  twelve  years  old  his  father  gave  him 
five  long  ships,2  and  he  went  on  an  eight-years'  war- 
cruise  in  the  Baltic,  and  along  the  Danish  and  German, 
the  French  and  Flemish,  the  British  and  Irish  coasts. 
Finally  he  sailed  away  north  to  Finmark,  and  right  up  to 
Biarmaland.  This  is  one  of  the  earliest  voyages  that  the  Sagas 
record  to  the  region  of  the  White  Sea — the  land  of  Perm, 
or  the  heathen  Biarma-men — a  country  which  in  after  days 
was  often  visited  and  plundered  by  Norse  raiders  and 
merchants,  and  became  famous  also  for  its  furs,  its  idol- 
temple  of  Iomala,  and  the  magic  of  its  people.  But  early 
as  it  is,  this  voyage  of  Eric  Haraldson  was  anything  but 
a  venture  into  the  Unknown.  Before  the  close  of  the 
previous  century  (c.  A.D.  890)  Ohthere  of  Halogaland  (who 
afterwards  described  his  journey  to  King  iElfred  of  Wessex) 
sailed  from  his  home  to  the  mouth  of  the  Dvina  round  the 
North  Cape  of  Europe  and  along  the  Lapland  or  Finmark 
coast  and  the  shores  of  the  White  Sea.  He  lived,  as  he 
thought,  to  the  north  of  all  the  Northmen,  on  the  mainland 
by  the  Western  Sea ;  to  the  North  of  him  was  a  waste, 
peopled  only  by  a  few  scattered  Finns,  hunters  and  fishers  ; 

1  '  Smith  Isles.'  2  Cli.  xxxiv.  of  ffara/d  Fairlun'rs  Saga. 


32       THE  NORSEMEN  AND  EXPLORATION       [Oh. 

with  the  inquisitive  instinct  of  his  race  he  determined  to 
find  out  for  himself  how  far  this  waste  extended,  and 
whether  any  men  lived  beyond  it.  He  was  probably  not 
ignorant  of  the  doings  of  Bjorgolf  of  Halogaland  or  Brynjolf 
his  son,1  who  about  this  time  collected  the  tribute  of  the 
Finns  for  Harald  Fairhair ;  but  even  if  such  a  rival  had 
preceded  Ohthere  to  the  North  Cape  or  beyond,  there  seems 
no  clear  evidence  of  any  earlier  Norseman  picking  out  the 
whole  of  the  Biarmaland  route.  His  journey  was  first 
towards  the  pole  for  six  days,  till  he  had  passed  beyond 
the  furthest  haunts  of  the  whalers  and  come  to  where  the 
land  turned  eastward,  running  north  no  longer.  Four  days 
in  the  new  direction  brought  him  to  a  point  where  the 
shore  began  to  run  southward  into  the  'inland  sea,'  and 
for  five  days  more  he  followed  the  coast  as  it  bent  inwards 
to  the  mouth  of  a  great  river,  where  the  land  was  well  tilled 
and  all  peopled  by  the  Biarnia-men.  All  the  way  he  had 
the  waste  upon  his  right  and  the  open  sea  upon  his  left ; 
he  did  not  dare  to  enter  the  Biarmaland,  but  he  opened 
up  a  certain  intercourse  with  the  natives,  and  learnt  from 
them  many  things  about  their  own  country  and  the  regions 
near  ;  from  his  own  observation  he  gave  an  excellent  de- 
scription of  the  long  and  narrow  district  in  which  the 
Scandinavians  of  the  Far  North  were  hemmed  in  between 
the  wild  mountains  of  the  Finns  and  the  ocean.  Ohthere 
was  not  only  an  explorer  but  a  trader ;  his  White  Sea 
voyage  was  partly  in  search  of  walrus-ivory,  and  hides,  and 
some  of  the  '  noble  bones  '  or  tusks  of  this  '  smallest  of  whales ' 
he  probably  displayed  in  later  years  among  his  trophies  at 
the  English  Court. 

Nor  was  Ohthere  the  only  precursor  of  Eric  Haraldson 
on  the  Biarmaland  route.     In  918-99  Eric  Blood-axe  made 
1  Cf.  Egil  Skallac/rimson's  Saga,  chs.  vii.-i.w 


II- J  VOYAGES    TO    THE    WHITE    SEA  33 

a  different  sort  of  journey  to  the  Dvina — an  armed  foray 
which  ended  in  a  great  battle  with,  and  triumph  over,  the 
Biarma-men,  who  mustered  in  great  force  to  resist  him.1 
Meantime  the  fur  trade  of  the  Finmark  coast  had  been 
growing,  in  the  latter  years  of  Harald  Fairhair,  into  a  high- 
prized  monopoly  of  the  crown  ;  and  an  impetus  to  Icelandic 
migration  from  Halogaland  and  other  Arctic  provinces 
of  Norway  was  given  by  the  King's  quarrel  with  the  house 
and  friends  of  Bjorgolf,  who  had  so  long  acted  like  little 
satraps  on  the  Lapland  coast.  Thorolf,  the  heir  of  Bjorgolf's 
grandson  Bard,  not  only  travelled  far  and  wide  in  Finmark 
as  the  royal  steward, — collecting  tribute,  holding  fairs,  and 
killing  or  expelling  rivals, — but  made  alliances  and  armed 
forays  on  his  own  account.2  Thus,  in  a.d.  897,  in  company 
with  Faravid,  King  of  the  Kvens,  he  attacked  '  Kirialaland,' 
in  which  we  may  possibly  see  the  modern  Korelia,  to  the 
west  of  Biarmaland  proper ; 3  but  soon  after  this  his  schemes 
of  northern  trade  and  dominion  were  abruptly  checked  by 
the  suspicion  and  hostility  of  his  overlord. 

Shortly  before  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  Ice- 
land (from  a.d.  996)  we  find  Hallvard  the  Easterling,  a 
trader  from  the  Bay  of  Christiania,  urging  the  hero  Gunnar 
of  Lithend  to  sail  abroad  with  him,  and  boasting  how  he 
had  been  to  all  lands  between  Norway  and  Ptussia,  as  well 
as  to  Biarmaland.4  To  this  same  mysterious  region  many 
later  journeys  were  made  from  the  Norse  Fiords  throughout 
the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries ;  and  here,  where  in  after 


1  fgWs  Saga,  ch.  xxxvii. 

2  EgWs  Saga,  chs.  x.,  xiii. ,  xiv., 
xvii. 

3  Korelia,  according  to  Engelhardt, 
Russian  Province  of  the  Rorth,  ch. 
ii.,  had  been  already  attacked  by  the 
Scandinavians  of  King  Eric  Emimd- 
son,  before  a.d.  833.     This  depends 


on  the  identification  of  the  Kvens 
whom  Eric  invaded  with  Korelia. 
Anyhow,  Kvenland  and  Kiriala-land 
together  may  be  taken  to  stretch  over 
the  region  between  the  Gulf  of  Fin- 
land and  the  White  Sea. 

4  Burnt  Njal's  Saga,  ch.  xxviii. 


34        THE  NORSEMEN  AND  EXPLORATION       [Oh. 

time  the  traders  of  Great  Novgorod  gathered  peltries  for  the 
Hanse  markets,  and  where  still  later  the  Tsars  of  Muscovy 
gained  their  first  outlet  to  the  sea,  the  Northmen  (in  the 
age  of  our  iEthelstan  and  Eadmund  and  iEthelred)  seem  to 
have  done  a  profitable  business.  Thus  King  Harald  Grey- 
cloak,  or  Greyskin  (c.  a.d.  970),  sailed  in  the  long  days  of 
summer  to  the  banks  of  the  Dvina,  and  'gat  exceeding 
wealth.' x  A  much  more  famous  journey  was  that  of  Thorir 
Hund,  about  1020 ;  this  is  one  of  the  most  dramatic  in- 
cidents of  the  Sagas ;  and  from  its  context  we  may  gather 
that  these  voyages  round  the  North  Cape  of  Europe  are 
typical  of  a  much  larger  number,  as  to  which  we  have 
only  bare  allusions  or  no  record  at  all. 

The  same,  of  course,  is  true  of  Norse  exploits  in  other 
fields  like  the  Baltic,  where  Halfdan  the  White  and  the 
Black  followed  Eolf  Ganger's  steps  to  Esthonia,  and  gained 
a  famous  name  among  the  chief  pioneers  in  one  of  the 
favourite  scenes  of  Viking  adventure.2 

Harald  Fairhair's  successor,  Hakon  the  Good,  was  in 
England  at  the  Court  of  iEthelstan,  when  the  first  great 
King  of  Norway  died  (934).  There  was  a  struggle  for  the 
crown  between  Hakon  and  his  brother  Eric,  and  the  usual 


1  Ch.  xiv.  of  Saga  of  Harald  Grey- 
cloak;  the  same  event  has  a  song  to 
commemorate  it : — '  The  conqueror 
of  the  boastful  Reddened  the  fire- 
brand east  there,  All  northward  of 
the  township,  Where  saw  I  ■Biarm 
folk  running;  Good  word  the  men's 
appeaser  Found  on  the  side  of  Dvina.' 

-  In  this  region  the  voyage  of 
Wulfstan  from  Haddeby  in  Denmark 
is  specially  interesting,  as  apparently 
enterprised by  an  Englishman  (c.  a.d. 
890)  at  a  very  low  time  of  English 
trade  and  marine.  JElfred  describes 
this  journey,in  his  Orosius,&s  complet- 


ing a  sort  of  periplus  from  the  White 
Sea  round  to  Esthonia.  Ohthere's 
first  voyage  to  the  Dvina  is  followed 
by  a  second  to  Haddeby  ;  then  comes 
Wulfstan,  who,  in  seven  days,  reaches 
Truso,  on  or  near  the  river  Elbing, 
and  describes  the  Wendland  coast, 
the  river  Vistula,  the  Frisches  Haff 
and  Esthonia, — where  stood  many- 
towns,  and  in  every  town  a  king ; 
where  the  rich  drank  kumiss  and  the 
poor  mead;  where  honey  and  fish 
abounded,  and  where  strange  burial 
customs  were  to  be  witnessed, 


II.] 


VIKINGS    IN    THE    BALTIC 


35 


refuge  was  sought  by  the  pretender  when  his  schemes  had 
failed.  Eric  sailed  west  over  sea  to  the  Orkneys,  and  then 
south  to  England  and  Scotland ;  and  there  he  harried  '  all 
about.'  yEthelstan  gave  him  Northumberland,  '  the  fifth 
part  of  England,'  to  hold  in  fief ;  and  Eric  had  his  seat 
at  York,  where  Ragnar  Lodbrok's  sons  had  formerly  dwelt, 
in  a  country  mostly  peopled  by  Northmen. 

But  when  King  Eadmund  came  to  the  throne  of  Wessex, 
Eric  was  driven  out,  and  had  to  take  to  piracy  on  the 
British  and  Irish  coasts. 

Meantime,  the  earlier  Viking  descents  on  the  Baltic 
shore-lands  brought  after  them,  as  usual,  the  Norse  king's 
fleet ;  for  now  King  Hakon  sailed  along  Skaney,1  '  Selund,' 
and  Gautland,  slaying  Vikings,  both  Danes  or  Wends.2 
Here,  again,  a  casual  mention  of  the  Saga  opens  a  long 
chapter  of  history.  These  Wends,  or  Slavs,  settled  on 
the  south  Baltic  coast,  for  centuries  waged  an  incessant 
warfare  with  the  Scandinavian  kingdoms  on  the  north- 
west, sometimes  in  alliance  with  one  of  their  enemies 
against  another.  Many  Viking  rovers,  such  as  the  half- 
legendary  hero  Palnatoki,  planted  themselves  along  the 
Wendish  or  Pomeranian  shore,  and  one  of  their  nests  at 
Jomsborg  became  especially  famous.  The  struggle  of  ages 
between  Scandinavians,  Germans,  Finns,  and  Slavs,  for 
the  control  of  the  southern  and  eastern  Baltic,  opens  in 
this  remote  period,  and,  passing  through  many  changes, 
does  not  reach  its  present  settlement  till  the  time  of 
Napoleon  (1790-1815);  —  when  the  Swedes,  representing 
Scandinavian  influence,  were  finally  thrust  *out;  when 
the   Finns,   who    for    six   hundred   years    had    been    their 


1  Scania  (hence  'Scandinavia'),  dur- 
ing most  of  the  middle  ages  a  Danish 
possession,     in     the    extreme    south 


of  the  modern  Swedish  Kingdom. 

2  Germanic  name  for  Slavs  ;  Saga 
of  Hakon  the  Good,  ch.  viii, 


36  THE   NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Oh. 

subjects,  were  transferred  by  the  agreement  of  Tilsit 
and  the  armed  force  of  Alexander  I.  to  a  new  allegiance ; 
and  when  Prussia  representing  Germanic,  and  Eussia 
representing  Slavonic  elements,  divided  the  whole  region 
as  it  is  to-day. 

Apart  from  this  Baltic  voyage,  Hakon  the  Good's  reign 
does  not  give  much  evidence  of  Norse  expansion  or  inter- 
course with  the  outer  world ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  the 
time  of  Harald  Greycloak.  We  hear  only  of  forays  in 
Ireland  and  Britain ;  of  the  voyage  to  Biarmaland  above 
mentioned ;  and  of  a  poem  by  a  celebrated  skald *  on  the 
men  of  Iceland.  But  with  the  age  of  01  af  Tryggveson 
the  range  of  Norse  interests  and  adventures  is  suddenly 
widened,  and  we  hear  of  exploits  in  all  countries  from 
Novgorod  to  Iceland,  and  from  Spain  to  the  Dvina.  From 
its  beginning  the  life  of  young  Olaf  was  that  of  a  wanderer. 
His  first  recollections  were  of  exile,  when  his  mother  had 
fled  through  Sweden  to  the  Baltic,  where  Vikings  captured 
and  enslaved  them  both,  and  where  Olaf  was  sold  to  a 
man  named  Klerk  '  for  a  right  good  he-goat.'  But  this  time 
of  misery  did  not  last  long ;  for  an  uncle  of  Olaf's  was 
then  living  in  Ptussia,  at  the  Court  of  St.  Vladimir,2  and, 
coming  into  Esthonia  to  collect  the  taxes  for  the  Lord  of 
Novgorod,  he  was  able  to  free  his  nephew  in  dramatic 
fashion,  and  to  take  him  back  to  Holmgarth,  keeping 
his  kinship  a  secret.  One  clay,  however,  Olaf  was  stand- 
ing in  the  gate  of  Novgorod,  already  one  of  the  greatest 
marts  of  the  north,  looking  at  the  traders  as  they  came  and 
went,  and  seeing  an  old  enemy,  he  brained  him  with  an  axe 
in    the   free   and   simple   fashion   of    the   Norsemen.      The 

1  Eyvind   Skald-spiller.      See   the  the  Great  (and  Saint),  Grand  Prince 

Sagas,  of  Hakon,  ch.  ix.  ;  of  Harald  of    Kiev,    980-1015.       Earlier    than 

Greycloak,  chs.  xiv.  and  xviii.  this   the   Saga   shows   him    reigning 

•  'Valdimar,'    otherwise   Vladimir  as  '  king '  at  Novgorod. 


n.l 


SCANDINAVIANS    AND    THE    BALTIC 


37 


barbarous  Russian  customs  of  the  time  put  illiberal  re- 
strictions on  the  blood-foud,  and  Olaf  was  charged  with 
murder.  But  his  uncle  took  him  to  the  'queen,'  and  the 
'king'  made  peace  and  fixed  the  blood-money.  Then  the 
latter  was  told  about  Olaf's  race  and  history,  and  at  last 
he  took  him  into  his  service.  'Olaf  was  nine  winters  old ' 
when  he  came  to  Novgorod,1  and  he  stayed  nine  years 
more  with  '  King'  Vladimir  (a.D.  972-981). 

It  is  perhaps  worth  notice  in  this  narrative,  not  only 
how  close  is  the  connection  2  between  the  Scandinavian  and 
Baltic  Lands  on  one  side,  and  the  Russian  Principalities  on 
the  other,  but  also  how  Novgorod — '  Lord  Novgorod  the 
Great,'  on  the  Volkhov — is  now,  at  the  close  of  the  tenth 
century,    the     principal    centre   of    power    and    trade    and 


1  'Garth-realm.' 

-  On  this  connection,  besides  the 
references  in  the  HeimsJcringla,  we 
may  compare  Laxdale  Saga,  ch.  xii., 
where  Gilli  the  Russian,  apparently 
a  Scandinavian  trading  on  tire  East 
Baltic  coasts,  sells  the  Icelandic 
Viking  and  traveller  Hosknld,  a  girl 
slave,  Melkorka,  a  daughter  of 
Myrkiartan  the  Irish  King.  Gilli 
is  noticed  as  weaiing  a  Russian  hat. 
Perhaps  the  Greek  hat  which  Thorkel, 
brother  of  Gisli,  was  wearing  when 
slain  was  likewise  Russian  :  Gisli 
the  Outlaw's  Saga,  ch.  xv.  Also 
cf.  Saga  of  Burnt  Njal,  ch.  xxx., 
where  Gunnar.  of  Lithend  harries  in 
Esthonia,  near  Revel,  and  in  the  isle 
of  Osel,  off  the  Esthonian  coast ;  ch. 
xxxi.  of  same,  where  among  Gunnar's 
presents  to  the  King  of  Denmark 
a  Russian  hat  is  recorded  ;  ch.  lxxx. 
of  same,  where  Kolskegg  the  Ice- 
lander, baptized  in  Denmark,  fares 
east  to  Russia  (Garth-realm)  and 
stays  there   one   winter  on    his    way 


to  Constantinople  ;  ch.  cxviii.  of 
same,  where  the  half-fabulous  ex- 
ploits of  Thorkell  Foulmouth  on 
the  east  Baltic  coasts  are  recounted, 
e.g.  the  slaying  of  a  wild  man  of  the 
woods  (a  half-human  monster)  as 
well  as  of  a  tire-dragon  in  Adalsyssla, 
etc. 

Again  •  in  EgiVs  Saga,  ch.  xlvi., 
Egil  Skallagrimson  harries  in  Cour- 
land  :  and  in  Eyrbyggia  Saga,  ch. 
xxix.,  Biom,  afterwards  the  Cham- 
pion of  the  Broadvikings,  banished 
from  Iceland  for  manslaughter,  takes 
service  with  Palnatoki,  captain  of 
the  Jomsborg  Vikings,  and  makes 
himself  a  great  name  in  Baltic  war- 
fare. Once  more  in  the  Heath- 
Slayings  Saga,  ch.  xli.,  Bardi  the 
Icelander  goes  to  Russia,  and  be- 
comes one  of  the  Russian  Prince's 
Yaerings  or  Scandinavian  guard, 
and  wards  the  Prince's  realm,  but 
is  killed  at  last  in  a  naval  battle, 
apparently  while  still  in  the  Russian 
service. 


38  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Ch. 

national  intercourse  among  those  Kussian  principalities  in 
their  relation  to  the  Baltic.  We  shall  see  that  it  keeps 
this  position  all  through  the  period  of  these  Sagas ;  long 
after  their  records  cease  Old  Novgorod  is  still  one  of  the 
greatest  cities,  and  especially  one  of  the  greatest  markets,  in 
Northern  Europe.  Its  traders  spread  over  all  that  we  now 
call  the  North  of  Eussia,  to  the  coast  of  Lapland,  the  North 
Sea,  the  Dvina,  and  the  Petchora ;  some  of  them  appear  to 
have  reached  and  crossed  the  Ural  Eange,  and  carried  their 
wares  into  the  lower  valley  of  the  Ob,  a  country  often 
known  as  Yugria.  This  far-reaching  commerce  must  not 
be  too  hastily  construed  as  a  political  dominion ;  such 
an  idea  would  probably  be  false,  if  applied  to  the 
lands  east  and  north  of  Lake  Onega ;  but,  in  the  absence 
of  any  other  organised  power  throughout  these  vast  dis- 
tricts, this  mercantile  ascendency  prepared  the  way  for 
the  political  sovereignty  of  Moscow.  At  the  end  of  the 
ninth  century,  or  the  beginning  of  the  tenth,  the  men  of 
Novgorod  had  already  penetrated  into  the  basin  of  the 
Northern  Dvina ; x  from  about  the  year  1000  they  begin 
their  visits  to  the  more  distant  Petchora ;  and  in  the  course 
of  the  next  few  years  they  make  repeated  attempts  to  cross 
the  dividing  ridge  into  the  land  of  '  Yugria '  and  the  valley 
of  the  Ob.  In  1032  they  were  repulsed  by  the  natives  in 
trying  to  cross  a  certain  pass  in  the  Urals,  called  the  Iron 
Gates  ;  between  1096  and  1187  the  trade  dominion  of  the 


1  See  Charles  Rahot,  A  travers 
la  Russie  boreale,  1894,  pp.  160- 
170;  Tchulkoff,  Gcschichte  des  rus- 
sichen  Kommerzes  ;  and  S.  Somniier, 
Sirieni,  Ostiacchi,  e  Samoiedi  deWOb, 
1887;  also  Engelhardt,  Russian  Pro- 
vince of  the  North,  E.  trans.  1899  ; 
chs.   ii.,  v.;  pp.   42,    54,   55,    107-8; 


Hakluyt  Society,  vol.  i.,  p.  23. 
Kholmogori,  the  chief  Slav  settlement 
in  the  neighhourhood  of  the  White 
Sea,  before  the  foundation  of  Arch- 
angel in  1584,  is  mentioned  by  the 
Grand  Duke  Ivan  Ivanovitch  (Ivan 
II.  of  Moscow)  in  a  letter  to  the 
Posadnik  (Governor)  of  the  Dvina  in 


and  Ear?ij   Voyages  to   Russia,    etc..    |    1355  or  1356. 


ii.]    Novgorod's  trade  and  exploration     39 

Novgorod  republic  claimed  to  have  reached  a  linn  establish- 
ment both  in  the  Petchora  country  and  in  Yugria ;  but  its 
tenure  was  really  of  a  more  uncertain  kind.  It  was  utterly 
extinguished  between  1187  and  12G4;  the  attempts  of  the 
Hanse  merchants  to  recover  their  position  in  1193  was 
futile  ;  but  in  the  later  thirteenth  century  we  find  them  again 
enjoying  their  older  access  to  these  regions,  their  older 
so-called  tribute  from  the  same.  This  mercantile  ascend- 
ency, intermittent  as  it  probably  was,  appears  beyond 
dispute  to  have  opened  the  way  by  which  Ivan  III.  of 
Moscow,  on  his  concpviest  of  Novgorod,  advanced  to  the 
Arctic  Ocean  (1471-1478). 

Novgorod  merchants  also  penetrated  to  the  Murman,  or 
north,  coast  of  Lapland,  at  least  as  early  as  the  opening  of 
the  thirteenth  century ;  even  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
it  has  been  claimed  that  their  settlements  were  to  be  found 
on  the  banks  of  the  Dvina,  Onega,  and  Mezen,  and  by  the 
shores  of  the  Northern  Ocean.  Hordes  of  freebooters  from 
the  great  city  plundered  and  subjected  the  Finnish  tribes  of 
Biarmaland,  and  the  modern  Pomors  of  Eussian  Lapland  are 
descendants  of  these  adventurers,  or  loshJcuiniM.  In  the 
eleventh  century  the  men  of  Novgorod  are  allied  with 
the  Korelians,  to  the  South-west  of  the  White  Sea,  against 
the  Finnish  Emi ;  Kola  is  mentioned  in  1264  by  the 
Eussian  Chronicles ;  and  in  1323  Prince  Yuri  Danilovitch 
of  Novgorod  concluded  a  treaty  with  Magnus,  King  of  the 
Swedes,  by  which  Sweden  engaged  to  respect  the  trade- 
ascendency  of  Novgorod  in  Lapland,  east  of  the  Araranger 
Fiord.  Even  in  the  eleventh  century 1  Yaroslav  the  Wise 
and  St.  Olaf  of  Norway  concluded  an  arrangement  about 
these  same  countries,  leaving  to  the  Novgorod  sphere  of  trade- 
infiuence  all  the  lands  east  of  Lyngen  Fiord. 

1  According  to  Eric  Berner  (Works,  Stockholm,  1740). 


40        THE  NORSEMEN  AND  EXPLORATION       [Oh. 

On  another  side  Novgorod  faced  Western  Europe.  Along 
with  Bruges  and  London  it  was  from  the  thirteenth  century 
the  greatest  Mart  of  the  Hansa,  or  Hanseatic  League,  in  extra- 
German  lands.  When  other  Russian  or  semi-Eussian 
peoples  and  states  were  submerged  by  the  Tartars,  Novgorod 
alone  escaped.  As  time  went  on,  it  became  more  and  more 
German  and  Hanseatic ;  until  at  last  Eussians  were  laid  under 
heavy  disabilities  and  treated  as  a  subject  race  within  its 
territories  ;  and  Novgorod  became,  instead  of  a  centre  of 
Eussian  life  and  trade,  instead  of  an  outlet  to  the  Baltic, 
the  firmest  barrier  between  that  Slavonic  trade  and  the 
outer  world.  Thus  from  the  Skra  or  code  of  the  Hanseatic 
settlement,  Court  of  the  Germans,  or  Court  of  St.  Peter,  at 
Great  Novgorod,  we  see  that  German  trading  settlements 
were  fixed  there  as  early  as  the  eleventh  century  ;  but  the 
German  ascendency  dates  from  the  privileges  granted  in 
1269.  The  Hanseatic  merchants  enjoyed  numerous  ad- 
vantages ;  for  example,  if  a  native  Eussian  were  bankrupt 
German  creditors  must  be  paid  first ;  further,  they  had  the 
right  of  banishing  such  a  bankrupt  from  the  city  with  his 
family.  As  tax,  the  Hanse  merchants  at  first  paid  a  piece 
of  cloth  and  a  pair  of  gloves  for  their  monopoly  of  the  whole 
trade  of  Livonia,  afterwards  nothing.  No  foreigner,  except  a 
Hanseatic,  might  learn  Eussian,  and  so  endanger  their 
monopoly  ;  the  whole  province 1  was  held  responsible  for 
the  crime  of  such  an  interloper.  Finally,  no  Eussian, 
under  a  penalty  of  100  marks,  was  to  be  suffered  to  live 
in  Livonia ;  Eussians  were  strictly  forbidden  to  trade  on  the 
sea,  and  punished  with  fine,  imprisonment,  and  confisca- 
tion of  goods,  for  attempting  to  do  so.  This  policy  proved 
the  ruin  of  Novgorod;  it  became  the  ambition  of  the  rising 
power  of  Moscow  to  break  through  this  barrier,  to   crush 

1  Of  Livonia. 


II.] 


NOVGOROD    IN    MEDIAEVAL    COMMERCE 


41 


the  power  of  that  Republic  which,  once  Russian,  had  become 
the  resolute  enemy  of  Russia  ;  and  the  internal  anarchy  of 
the  great  city  destroyed  the  last  hope  of  effective  resistance. 
In  1478  Tsar  Ivan  III.  took  it;  a  century  later  Ivan  IV. 
destroyed  it  utterly,  carried  away  most  of  its  people,  and 
removed  its  treasures,  above  all,  its  great  bell  that  once  had 
called  the  citizens  to  public  meeting  or  to  riot ;  at  this  day 
it  probably  contains  scarce  a  tenth  of  the  numbers  that 
crowded  its  streets  in  the  fifteenth  century.1  The  ruthless- 
ness  of  the  destruction  proves  the  depth  of  the  hatred  it  had 
roused ;  it  had  become  in  Russian  eyes  a  traitor  city,  which 
now  strangled  the  commerce  of  its  brethren,  forbade  them 
to  expand,  to  reach  the  sea,  to  navigate,  or  to  learn  of  other 
nations;  cldenda  est  Carthago. 

But  in  the  time  of  Olaf  Tryggveson  and  of  St. 
Vladimir,  Novgorod  was  still  Slav,  still  Russian  2 ;  its  trans- 
formation into  an  anti-Slav  out-post  of  Germany  was  yet  to 
come;  nor  was  it  accomplished  till  the  end  of  the  period 
covered  by  this  volume. 

In  about  995  young  Olaf  left  Novgorod  and  sought  his 
fortune  on  the  sea,  a  fortune  that  might  bring  him  at  last 
to  his  own  kingdom  again.  Vladimir  had  shown  him  all 
honour ;  he  was  made  a  Captain  in  the  standing  army  of 
defence ;  with  his  own  private  wealth  he  formed  a  powerful 
war-band ;  but  after  a  time  the  king  grew  jealous,  and  Olaf 
took  to  the  life  of  a  Viking  rover. 

First  he  put   out  into  the  Baltic,    the  '  East    Salt   Sea,' 


1  Without  adopting  the  exagger- 
ated figures  of  some  chroniclers  {e.g. 
400,000),  yet  it  seems  probable  that 
Novgorod,  in  the  time  of  its  greatest 
prosperity  as  a  Hanseatic  centre, 
must  have  contained  nearly  a  quarter 
of  a    million    of  people  ;  in    1S97   it 


had  20.000.  Moscow,  Riga,  Revel, 
Libau,  ail  profited  by  the  depression 
of  Old  Novgorod  ;»but  above  all  the 
foundation  and  prosperity  of  St. 
Petersburg  fatally  diverted  the  course 
of  trade. 

'J  Or  rather  Eusso-Scandinavian. 


/ 


42  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Ch. 

and,  sailing  south,  came  to  Wendland,  where  he  married  the 
king's  daughter  and  became  '  ruler  of  that  realm  with  her.'  * 
When  the  Emperor  Otto  II.  attacked  Denmark  to  make  it 
'  take  christening  and  the  right  troth,'  Burislav,  King  of 
the  Wends,  followed  him  with  Olaf  Tryggveson,  who  had 
just  come  back  from  a  Viking  voyage  to  Gothland  and 
Sweden.2  Olaf  stayed  in  Wendland  three  years  ;  then  his 
wife  died,  and  he  started  again  on  his  wanderings.3 

From  the  Baltic  he  sailed  to  Friesland  and  Flanders,  to 
England  and  Scotland  and  Ireland.  He  raided  in  the 
Hebrides  and  in  Man,  and  thence  made  his  way  to  the 
Scilly  Isles,  Brittany,  and  the  north-west  of  France.4  Four 
years  passed  in  these  cruises,  during  which  Olaf  was 
christened,5  and  married  again.  His  second  wife  was  the 
sister  of  the  King  of  Dublin,  Olaf  Kuaran,  of  partly  Norse, 
partly  Irish  family  ;  and  this  marriage  brought  Tryggveson 
again  to  Ireland.  At  this  point  happened  the  great  change 
in  his  life.  From  the  career  of  a  Viking,  a  pirate  chief,  the 
possible  founder  of  a  new  Norse  kingdom  in  the  west,  he 
was  suddenly  recalled  to  his  old  home,  to  that  scene  of 
tierce  dynastic  and  domestic  strife  which  he  had  left  while 
an  infant  of  a  few  days  old. 

After  the  fall  of  Harald  Greycloak  Norway  had  become 
a  sub-kingdom  of  Denmark,  and  was  ruled  by  Earl  Hakon 
the  Wise,  one  of  the  most  capable  and  subtle  statesmen  that 

1  Probably  an  exaggeration  of  the  4  '  Valland '  in  which  Normandy 
Saga.     King  Burislav,  Olaf s  father-    ;    was  often  included. 

indaw,    evidently    reigned   down   to  5  Before  this  he  had  called  himself 

the   time   of  Olaf  Tryggveson's   de-  Oli  the  Garthman  (Novgorodian),but 

parture   from    "Wendland.     See    chs.  ,  in  Scilly  a  hermit  told  him  he  should 

xxi.,  xxii.,  xxix.  of  Olaf  Tryggveson's  '  be  a  glorious  king,  'and  many  other 

Saga.                      »  :  great  works  of  Almighty  God  did  he 

2  Ch.  xxv.  and  xxvi.  of  Olaf  Trygg-  ,  reveal'  ;   on  which  Olaf  'would  fain 
veson's  Saga  be  christened,   and  so  was   he  with 

3  Ch.  xxx.  to  xxxv.  of  Olaf  Trygg-  \  all    his   men':    ch.    xxxii.    of   Olaf 
veson's  Saga.  \  Tryggveson's  Saga. 


1  '  And  now  so  great,'  says  Snorri, 
ch.  lvi.  of  Olaf  Tryggvcson's  Saga, 
'was  tlie  enmity  against  Hakon  that 
none  durst  name  him  other  than 
"The   Evil   Earl"   for    long     after. 


dealt ;  for  his  high  heart  in  battle 
and  his  good  hap  withal.  As  says 
Thorleif  Redfellson  :  —  Of  no  Earl 
ever  heard  we  'Neath  the  Moon's 
highway,   Hakon,    More  famed   than 


Yet  for  many  things  was  he  worthy  thou.'      But  to  Snorri  his   ruin  was 

to   be  lord  ;  for  the  great  stock  he  ;    the  decree  of  fate,  the  doom  of  his 

came  of;  for  the  wisdom  and  insight,  j   obstinate  paganism,  and  his  unbridled 

yea,    and    the   bounty  wherewith   he  license. 


II.]     EARLY  VOYAGES  OF  OLAF  TRYGOYESON      43 

men  had  seen  in  the  north.  This  Hakon  had  long  sought 
far  and  wide  for  young  Tryggveson,  and  at  last  he  heard 
news  of  him  in  Ireland.  So  he  sent  out  his  friend  Thorir 
Klakka,  who  had  '  gained  a  good  knowledge  of  countries ' 
by  piracy  and  by  trade,  and  ordered  him,  under  pretext  of 
a  merchant  voyage  to  Dublin,  to  find  Olaf,  and  entrap  him. 
So  Thorir  came  west  from  Norway  to  Ireland — a 
common  voyage  enough  in  those  days — and  soon  he  fell  in 
with  Tryggveson,  who  asked  him  many  questions  about 
Norway  and  Earl  Hakon.  And  Thorir  said  the  earl  was 
indeed  mighty,  but  all  the  people  would  rather  have  a  king 
of  the  blood  of  Harald  Fairhair.  Olaf  caught  at  the 
treacherous  suggestion  with  the  eagerness  of  an  exile,  and 
set  sail  at  once  with  live  ships,  taking  Thorir  in  his 
company.  Passing  through  the  Hebrides  and  Orkneys,  he 
soon  arrived  in  Norway,  and  hurried  northward,  night  and 
day,  so  as  to  come  unawares  upon  Earl  Hakon,  who  was 
well  informed  of  every  movement  of  his  foe.  The  earl 
would  now  have  been  sure  of  his  prey  but  for  one  thing. 
Since  he  sent  Thorir  Klakka  to  the  west,  the  great  men  of 
Norway  had  risen  up  in  revolt;  and  now  his  own  craft  hod 
supplied  the  malcontents  with  a  formidable  leader.  The 
whole  country  rallied  round  the  young  prince  ;  Hakon  was 
forced  to  fly ;  and  the  usurper  was  soon  after  murdered  by  a 
serf,  who  brought  his  head  to  Olaf,  and  lost  his  own  head 
for  his  pains.1 


44 


THE  NORSEMEN  AND  EXPLORATION 


[Ch. 


In  the  time  of  Hakon's  rule  we  have  a  curious  reference 
to  Pagan  Iceland,  its  Norse  settlers  and  their  trade.  'It 
had  been  made  a  law  in  Iceland  that  for  every  nose  in  the 
land  a  scurvy  rhyme  should  be  made  on  the  Dane  King ' 
(Harald  Gormson).  For  an  Iceland  ship  had  been  cast  away 
in  Denmark,  and  the  Danes  had  plundered  it  as  lawful 
wreckage.  To  this  a  wild  story  is  added  of  Harald's  magic 
against  the  Icelanders.  He  sent  out  a  wizard  who  could 
change  his  shape  at  will,  and  would  have  done  infinite 
mischief,  but  that  he  was  baffled  by  the  spirits  of  the  land — 
so,  at  least,  the  Iceland  Sagas  proudly  recorded  of  their  be- 
loved country,  where  the  fells  and  the  hills  were  all  full 
of  guardian  monsters,  and  where  mighty  dragons  and  eagles, 
bulls  and  giants,  watched  over  the  shore  that  no  enemy 
might  enter.1 

This  was  one  repulse  for  Denmark  ;  it  was  a  more  serious 
matter  when  the  Jomsborg  Vikings  from  Wendland2  and 
Sweden,  under  King  Svein,  the  son  of  Harald  Gormson, 
failed  to  drive  Hakon  out  of  Norway 3  as  they  had  sworn 
to  do,  and  thus,  breaking  with  their  old  ally,  left  him 
unaided  before  Olaf  Tryggveson,  whose  victory  was  for 
Denmark  the  loss  of  a  dependency. 

From  this  time  we  hear  less  of  any  dealings  with  the 
outer  world,  till,  in  referring  to  the  conversion  of  Iceland, 
the  Saga  gives  us  the  famous  narratives  of  the  Vinland, 
Markland,  and  other  north-western  voyages.     We  may  notice 


1  Chs.  xxxvi.    and  xxxvii.  of  Olaf  I    their  go-between  in  a  peace  with  the 


Tryggveson' s  Saga. 

2  Wendland  may  be  roughly  taken 
as  equal  to  the.  modern  Pomerania. 

3  The  Jomsborg  Vikings  had 
already  helped  Svein  against  the 
father  Harald.  Afterwards  they  had 
kidnapped  him,  and  forced  him  to  be 


Wends.  This  peace  was  connected 
with  marriage  alliances  between  the 
families  of  King  Burislav  and  King 
Svein.  Cnut  the  Great  was  a  son  of 
this  Svein  and  his  Wendish  wife,  and 
thus  partly  Slav.  See  chs.  xxxviii. - 
xlvii.  of  Olaf  Tryggveson  a  Saga. 


II.] 


INTERCOURSE    OF    ICELAND   AND   NORWAY 


45 


the  eventful  Baltic  voyage  of  the  merchant  Lodin 1  which 
brought  about  the  freeing  of  King  Olaf's  mother  from  slavery  ; 
the  journey  of  Dangbrandt 2  or  Thangbrand,  the  '  Saxon ' 
priest,  to  Iceland,  to  preach  the  Christian  Faith  with  the 
help  of  some  timely  violence  ;  the  meeting  of  the  King  with 
the  hero  Kiartan  and  other  men  from  Iceland  ;  and  the 
visit  of  Leif  the  Greenlander,  son  of  Ked  Eric,  to  Norway;3 
but  the  chief  interest  of  the  poet-chronicler  is  fastened  upon 
the  conversion  of  Norway.  It  is  no  business  of  ours  here 
to  follow  Olaf  Tryggveson  along  that  track  of  blood  and 
fire,4  by  which  he  brought  his  subjects  to  enter  the  church  ; 
along  the  incidents  of  his  contests  with  the  warlocks,  or 
with  ghosts,  '  quickened  in  men's  bodies  by  cunning  of  the 
Finns ' ; 5  or  along  the  intricacies  of  the  political  struggle 
which  at  last  crushed  the  King  of  Norway  before  the 
League  of  Danes,  Swedes,  Wends,  and  Norse  rebels.  But 
the  Saga's  references  to  Icelandic  affairs,  scanty  as  they  are, 
begin  to  assume  more  importance,  and  are  especially  in- 
teresting as  a  preface  to  the  record  of  that  triumphant 
advance  of  Norse  discovery,  which  for  a  time  linked  Ice- 
land with  America. 


1  Oh.  lviii.  of  Olaf  Tryggveson's 
Saga.  The  reality  of  this  voyage  is 
disputed  by  some. 

2  Oh.  lxxx.  of  Olaf  Tryggveson's 
Saga;  chs.  xcvii.,  xcviii.  of  Burnt 
Xjal's  Saga;  and  eh.  xli.  of  the 
Laxdale  Saga,  which  rails  him  a 
'Court  Priest  ' 

3  It  was  on  his  return  from  this 
visit  that  Leif  found  Vinland,  accord- 
ing to  Red  Eric's  Saga. 

4  See  oh.  lxxxiii.,  lxxxvii.,  xeii.  of 
Olaf  Tryggveson's  Saga :  '  the  grim- 
mest of  all  men  was  he  in  his  wrath, 
and  marvellous  pains  laid  he  on  his 
foes.    Some  he  burnt  in  the  fire,  some 


he  let  wild  hounds  tear,  some  he  gave 
to  serpents,  some  he  stoned,  some  lie 
cast  from  high  rocks.'  Yet  Olaf  was 
also  the  'gladdest  and  gamesomest 
of  men,  kind  and  lowly,  exceeding 
eager,  bountiful  and  glorious  of  attire, 
and  before  all  men  for  heart  in  battle,' 
cli.  xcii.  of  Olaf  Tryggveson's  Saga. 
On  the  King's  intercourse  with  the 
Icelanders  in  Norway,  and  especially 
with  Kiartan,  and  the  famous  swim- 
ming contest  of  these  two  strong 
men  in  the  Nid,  cf.  the  Laxdale 
Saga,  chs.  40,  41,  42,  43,  46. 

5  Ch.    lxxxiii.  and  lxxx  v.  of  Olaf 
Tryggveson's  Saga. 


46  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Ch. 

The  German  Thangbrand1  was  hardly  the  right  man  to 
deal  with  independent  folk  like  the  Icelanders.  He  may 
have  been  a  good  clerk,  and  a  doughty  man,  but  he  was 
headstrong  and  quarrelsome,  and  the  effect  of  his  preaching 
was  impaired  by  his  frequent  duels.  Thus  two  skalds  of 
the  Island  paid  with  their  lives  for  some  scurrilous  verses ; 
and  after  three  years  the  unlucky  missionary  came  back  to 
King  Olaf,  saying  that  his  task  was  hopeless.  But  already 
the  Icelanders  who  were  in  Norway  had  mostly  '  taken 
christening '  at  the  King's  wish,2  and  with  the  baptism  of 
Leif  Ericson3  the  conversion  of  Greenland  was  also  begun. 

Thus  Olaf's  reckless  proselytism  triumphed  at  last  in  the 
north-west,4  but  in  the  home  kingdoms  it  seemed  to  rouse  up 
foes  on  every  side.  Among  the  rest,  Queen  Sigrid  of  Sweden, 
a  valuable  ally  to  Norway,  though  infamous  for  her  murder 
of  King  'Vissavald'  of  Novgorod,  and  others  who  had  trusted 
to  her  hospitality,  was  mortally  affronted  by  Olaf  over  this 
very  matter  ; 5  and  her  marriage  with  Svein  Forkbeard  of 
Denmark  added  to  the  growing  embarrassments  of  the  new 
King  of  Norway.  Olaf's  marriage  with  Thyri,  the  fugitive 
wife  of  the  Wend  King  Burislav,  and  the  bitter  enemy  of 
her  brother  King  Svein,  was  a  crowning  stroke  of  im- 
prudence. Moreover,  he  was  not  yet  rid  of  all  danger 
from  the  race  and  friends  of  Earl  Hakon,  and  the  Saga 
has  some  details  of  interest  about  the  wanderings  of  Eric 


1  Ch.  lxxx.,  xci.  of  same. 

2  Ch.  lxxxviii.,  lxxxix.,  xc,  xci.  of 
same. 

3  Ch.  xciii.  of  same.  Apparently 
a.d.  999.  In  ch.  xciv.  '  this  summer,' 
is  defined  as  'when  Olaf  had  ruled 
over  Norway  four  winters.' 

4  Ch.  ciii.  and  civ.  of  same.  Leifs 
old  pagan  father  was  fond  of  sajdng 
that  all  his  son's  good  fortune  in  his 
Yinland  voyage  was  hardly  a  set  off 


to  the  bad  luck  he  had  brought  on 
the  land  with  his  jugglers  and  their 
jugglery  ;  ch.  civ. 

5  Ch.  xlviii.  of  same.  The  King's 
refusal  to  marry  this  '  faded  heathen 
bitch,'  and  his  blow  in  the  face  with 
a  glove,  after  the  formal  betrothal 
had  taken  place,  was  accepted,  as  it 
was  clearly  meant,  for  an  open  act  of 
political  defiance. 


II.]       LAST  YEARS  OF  OLAF  TRYGGVESON       47 

Hakonson,  the  leader  of  this  party,  who  now  joined  the 
alliance  against  Tryggveson.  Eric  had  made  friends  with 
the  King  of  the  Swedes,  another  Olaf,  always  ready  to  aid 
those  who  threatened  his  western  rival ;  but  at  first,  though 
'  much  folk  resorted  from  Norway  to  Earl  Eric,'  the  time 
had  not  come  for  a  decisive  struggle.  So  he  went  on  a 
Viking  cruise  to  Gothland,1  waylaying  ships  of  traders  or 
of  other  Vikings ;  and  he  harried  wide  along  the  borders  of 
the  sea.  He  sailed  also  south  to  Wendland,  and  to  the 
East  Baltic  coast,  and  raided  the  country  of  King  Valdimir, 
where  he  stormed  the  town  of  Aldeigia,  on  Lake  Ladoga. 

At  last  the  storm  broke.  In  the  year  of  Christ  1000 
Olaf  Tryggveson,2  returning  from  a  Wendland  voyage,  was 
attacked  off  Svold,  by  his  enemies,  in  overwhelming  numbers, 
and  perished  in  the  struggle.  The  words  of  his  careless 
scorn  were  long  remembered.  '  We  fear  not  the  Danes  ;  in 
those  blenchers  there  is  no  heart ;  and,  for  the  Swedes, 
better  were  they  at  home  licking  their  blood  bowls,  than 
coming  here  under  our  weapons.'  In  his  great  ship,  the 
Long  Serpent,  he  grappled  with  Eric  Hakonson,3  and  the 
fight  was  long ;  but  the  forces  of  the  League  were  over- 
powering. Even  the  great  archer,  Einar  Thambarskelvir, 
could  not  save  the  day.  A  Finn  bowman  of  Earl  Eric's 
split  Einar's  bow  asunder  with  an  arrow,  and  at  that  loud 
sound,  the  Saga  would  have  us  think,  men  stopped  their 
fighting  for  a  moment,  as  in  reverence  for  an  omen  of  the 
approaching  end.  '  Then  spake  King  Olaf,  "  What  brake 
there  so  loud  ?  Norway,  King,  from  thy  hands,"  said 
Einar.' 

The  rebel  Norsemen  now  threw  heavy  beams  on  to  the 
bulwarks   of  the  Long  Serjyent,  so   as   to   heel   it  over,  and 

1  The  Island.  :i  After  beating  off  the  Swedes  and 

-  Ohs.  evi.-cxx,  of  same.  I    Danes, 


48  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Ch. 

give  their  weapons  play  ;  then  at  last  they  cleared  the  deck 
with  repeated  boarding  rushes ;  and  Olaf  leapt  into  the 
water,  throwing  up  his  shield  over  him,  and  disappeared. 

The  Saga  of  Olaf  Tryggveson  inserts  in  the  body  of  its 
narrative,1  shortly  before  the  fatal  venture  of  the  hero  in 
the  Baltic,  a  record  of  the  Xorse  voyages  in  the  far  north- 
west. These  voyages  have  naturally  become  the  most 
famous,  as  they  are  the  most  brilliant  and  suggestive  of 
Scandinavian  explorations  ;  and  as  their  chief  events  refer 
to  the  last  years  of  this  reign,  it  will  be  best,  perhaps,  to 
take  them  in  this  place.  Various  criticisms  have  been 
made  upon  portions  of  the  narrative,  and  it  seems  probable 
that  in  the  long  accepted  text  of  these  chapters  '  on 
Vinland  Faring '  we  have  at  least  some  interpolations,  and 
even  more  displacements  of  time-order  and  of  the  proper 
sequence  of  events.  In  all  examination  or  criticism  of  the 
Vinland  tradition,  we  have  to  distinguish  between  the  two 
forms  in  which  this  tradition  has  come  down.2  The  first, 
earlier,  and  shorter  form,  is  in  the  so-called  Saga  of  Brie 
the  Reel  (and  of  Thorfinn  Karlsefne) ;  the  second,  later, 
and  more  elaborate  text,  is  that  of  the  Flatey  Booh,  which 
has  been  adopted  in  certain  manuscripts  of  the  Heims- 
kringla,  and  is  the  narrative  most  commonly  known. 

The  Saga  of  Eric  the  Red  survives  in  two  manuscripts, 
the  older  of  about  a.d.  1334,  the  later  of  about  1400.  The 
former  is  commonly  known  as  the  Boole  of  Hauk  (i.e.  of  a 
man  who  claimed  descent  from  Thorfinn  Karlsefne).  In 
its  original  form,  the  narrative  was  probably  compiled 
about   a.d.   1300,  and   the  surviving   texts   are  transcripts 


1  After  ch.  civ.  of  Olaf  Tryggveson's 
Saga,  on  the  '  Christening  of  Green- 
land.' 

2  Cf.  Storm,  Studies  on  the  Vinland 


Voyages,  especially  pp.  319-325 ; 
Reeves,  JVineland  the  Good,  especi- 
ally pp.  19-52,  181-5,  79-83. 


II.]  THE    VINLAND    VOYAGES  :    RIVAL   TEXTS  49 

of  one  which  the  scribes  do  not  seem  to  have  always 
understood.  Those  who  have  praised  the  Vinland  narrative 
in  this  form  as  always  preferable  to  that  of  the  Matey  Book, 
conveniently  forget  certain  absurdities  and  contradictions 
which  are  sometimes  as  troublesome  as  in  the  despised 
version  represented  by  the  Heimshringla.  But  whatever 
its  difficulties,  the  Red  Eric  Saga  has  at  least,  like  the 
old  Lord  Lafeu,  the  '  privilege  of  antiquity  upon  it '  ;  and 
in  many  parts,  if  not  in  all,  it  represents  a  tradition  of 
considerable  weight.  On  the  whole  it  must  be  considered 
as  of  superior  authority  where  its  record  clashes  with 
Matey;  but  the  case  is  different  where  the  latter  gives 
us  matter  not  represented  at  all  in  Bed  Eric.  We  cannot 
treat  the  omissions  of  the  earlier  manuscript  as  decisive 
against  details  recorded  in  the  later ;  arguments  from 
silence  are  always  dangerous,  and  doubly  so  in  mediaeval 
enquiries ;  and  the  agreements  between  the  rival  texts 
are  sufficiently  numerous  to  warrant  the  belief  that  the 
once-received  text  of  Matey  in  the  main  presents  a  trust- 
worthy record.  First  of  all,  then,  let  us  follow  the  story  of 
the  fuller  though  later  chronicle. 

In  the  beginning  we  hear  of  the  voyage  of  Biarne,  the 
son  of  Heriulf.  From  his  earliest  youth  he  desired  to  go 
abroad — that  is  from  Drepstok  in  Iceland,  where  his  home 
was.  At  last,  one  year,  when  Biarne  possessed  a  merchant- 
ship  of  his  own,  Heriulf  went  to  Greenland  with  Eed  Eric1 


1  On  this  voyage  Heriulf  was 
accompanied  by  a  '  Christian  man, 
from  the  South  isles  '  (Hebrides),  who 
composed  the  Sea-rollers  Song,  evi- 
dently in  the  stress  of  terrible 
weather  ;  one  stave  is  quoted  in 
Matey :  '  Faultless  searcher  of  monks' 


o'er  mc '  (i.e.  guard  me  with  thy 
hand).  Just  before  this  Flatey 
describes  Leif's  journey  to  Norway, 
and  his  conversion  by  Olaf  Trygg- 
veson,  '  sixteen  winters  after  Erie 
the  Red  went  to  colonise  Greenland,' 
which    was    '  fifteen    winters    before 


hearts,  He  who  Heaven's  halls   doth   |    Christianity  was   made    law   in   Ice- 
rule,   Hold    the    hawk's     seat    ever   I    land.' 


50 


THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION 


[Ch. 


and  settled  at  Heriulfsness,  while  Eric  planted  himself  at 
Brattahlid.1  Both  settlements  were  in  the  extreme  south- 
west of  Greenland,  near  Cape  Farewell ;  while  hard  by,  at 
Gardar,  where  afterwards  the  Bishops  of  Greenland  had  their 
seat,  lived  Eric's  daughter  Freydis  with  her  husband  Thorvard. 
Now,  after  a  time,  Biarne  determined  to  go  and  spend 
the  winter  with  his  father,  though  neither  he  nor  his  men 
had  ever  been  in  the  Greenland  Sea  before.  He  set  out 
accordingly,  and  sailed  for  three  days.  Then  a  north  wind 
with  fog  set  in,  and  this  lasted  a  great  while.  At  the  end 
they  saw  the  sun  once  more,  and  could  distinguish  the 
quarters  of  the  heaven  ;  and  again  they  sailed  on  for  a 
day  and  a  night,2  and  came  in  sight  of  land.  But  Biarne 
thought  this  could  not  be  Greenland.  They  sailed  close 
up  to  it  and  saw  that  the  country  was  level,  without  moun- 
tains, and  covered  with  wood,  and  that  there  were  small 
hillocks  inland.  Then  they  left  this  land  on  the  larboard 
side  and  sailed  two  days  and  nights,  till  again  they  sighted 
firm  ground.  But  Biarne  thought  this  was  no  more  Green- 
land than  what  they  had  seen  before.  For  this  was  flat 
and  covered  with  trees,  and  in  Greenland  there  were  great 
ice-mountains.  The  ship's  people  would  have  landed 
here,  but  Biarne  forbade  it.  They  put  to  sea  again  with 
a  south-west  breeze  and  sailed  for  three  clays  and  nights. 
Then  they  saw  a  high  mountainous  land  with  ice-mountains, 
which  was  clearly  an  island,  so  Biarne  would  not  land 
here  either.  Once  more  they  stood  out  to  sea  with  the 
same  breeze,  and  after  three  clays  they  came  to  Heriulfsness 
in  Greenland.3 


1  A.i).  984  or  986,  according  to 
tradition. 

2  Lit.  a  doegr,  which  in  the  Sagas 
always  means  a  period  of  twenty- 
i'onr    hours,    as    Dr.    Gustav    Storm 


demonstrates. 

3  This  is  reckoned  to  have  been 
in  the  year  of  Christ  986,  in  the 
vulgar  chronology,  which  is  very  un- 
certain. 


II.]  VOYAGES    OF    BIARNE   AND    LEIF  51 

The  next  section  introduces  Leif  Ericson.  After  some 
time l  Biarne  came  over  from  Greenland  to  Norway  on  a 
visit  to  Earl  Eric,  and  told  men  about  his  journey.  '  But 
folk  thought  he  had  not  been  eager  to  get  knowledge,'  as 
he  could  not  give  any  account  of  the  new  lands  he  had 
visited.  Soon  he  went  (in  the  next  summer)  back  to 
Greenland,  having  set  all  to  talk  about  the  discovery 
of  unknown  countries,  One  Norseman  especially — and  he 
a  Greenlander — was  anxious  to  do  more  than  talk.  Leif 
of  Brattahlid,  a  son  of  Bed  Eric,  a  large  and  powerful 
man  and  of  most  imposing  presence,  went  over  to  Biarne  and 
bought  his  ship.  The  loyal  son  urged  his  father  to  come 
in  command,  '  for  with  him  they  were  most  likely  to  have 
good  luck ' ;  but,  when  they  were  close  to  the  ship  Eric's 
horse  stumbled,  and  the  old  heathen  drew  back.  '  'Tis  not 
fated,'  said  he,  '  that  I  should  discover  more  lands  than 
this  one  of  Greenland.'  So  Leif  went  without  him.  Yet 
he  had  in  the  ship  among  his  thirty-five  companions,  at 
least  one  trusty  counsellor,  his  foster-father  from  the  South 
Land,2  named  Tyrker.  They  came  first  to  the  country  which 
Biarne  had  seen  last  of  all,  and  here  they  went  on  shore. 
There  was  no  grass  to  be  seen,  but  huge  snowy  mountains 
in  the  upland,  and  from  the  sea  to  those  mountains  the 
land  was  all  like  a  table  of  flat  rock,  and  it  seemed  to  them 
a  region  of  no  profit.  But  they  went  on  shore  all  the  same, 
and  Leif  said :  '  It  has  not  been  with  us  as  with  Biarne, 
that  we  have  gone  not  upon  the  land ;  I  will  give  it  a 
name,  and  the  name  shall  be  Helluland'3  (Slab-land). 
Then  they  put  to  sea  and  found  another  land,  and  there 
also  they   went   on   shore.      Now  this   was   flat   and  over- 

1  The    interval   is    left    absolutely   j    some  have  conjectured  for  this  visit, 
uncertain  in  Flatcy,  and  there  is  no    |        2  Germany, 
authority    for    the    year    994,    which    |        3  From  '  hellu,'  a  flat  stone. 


52        THE  NORSEMEN  AND  EXPLORATION       [Ch. 

grown  with  wood,  low-lying  towards  the  sea,  and  the  beach 
had  broad  stretches  of  white  sand.  And  Leif  said :  '  We 
will  give  this  a  name  according  to  its  kind,  and  call  it 
Markland'  (Woodland).  Again  they  put  to  sea  with  an 
on-shore  wind  from  the  north-east,  and  after  two  days  and 
nights  they  came  to  land  once  more.  But  first  they  went 
on  to  an  island  which  lay  on  the  north  side  of  this  land, 
and  looked  about  them,  for  the  weather  was  good.  There 
was  dew  upon  the  grass,  and  they  thought  they  had  never 
tasted  anything  so  sweet  as  this.  Afterwards  they  sailed 
into  a  sound  or  strait  which  lay  between  this  island  and  a 
ness  that  jutted  out  from  the  land  on  the  north.  Here 
was  shallow  water  at  ebb-tide,  and  the  Norsemen  ran 
their  ship  on  land,  but  were  not  able  at  once  to  bring  it 
right  into  port.  They  were  too  eager  to  wait  for  it 
to  float  again,  so  they  rushed  to  the  shore  and  came  to 
a  place  where  a  river  flowed  out  of  a  lake.  And  as  soon 
as  the  vessel  floated,  they  towed  her  up  the  stream  into  the 
lake,  and  there  they  cast  anchor,  carrying  their  beds  out  of 
the  ship,  and  building  themselves  booths  there.  Then  they 
put  all  things  in  order  for  wintering,  and  built  a  large  house  ; 
for  the  land  seemed  to  them  very  good.  They  did  not  want 
for  fish  food ;  there  were  salmon  both  in  the  river  and  in 
the  lake,  larger  than  they  had  ever  seen.  There  was  no 
frost  in  winter,  and  the  grass  was  not  much  withered,  so 
that  no  winter  fodder,  they  thought,  would  be  needed  for 
cattle-  Day  and  night  here  were  more  equal 1  than  in 
Iceland  or  Greenland. 

1  '  For  on  the  shortest  day  the  sun       had    fresh  calculations  made  by  two 
was  in  the    sky  between  Eyktarstad   ]    eminent  astronomers,   this  implies  a 


and  Dagmalstad,'  lit.  'had  Eyktar- 
stad and  Dagmalstad  on  the  short 
day.'  According  to  Vigfusson  (Dic- 
tionary, under  the   word  Eykt),  who 


day  of  seven  hours ;  according  to 
Hildebrand,  of  six  hours;  and  accord- 
ing to  the  editors  of  the  Antiquitatcs 
Americanac,  a  day  of  nine  hours  is 


II.] 


LEIF    ERICSON    IN    VINLAND 


53 


When  they  had  finished  their  house-building,  Leif  said 
to  his  men :  '  I  will  divide  the  crew  in  two  parts',  and  so 
explore  this  country.  Half  shall  stay  here  and  do  the 
work,  while  half  shall  search  the  land ;  but  these  last  shall 
come  back  at  night  and  not  wander  from  each  other.' 
And  this  they  did  for  some  time.  Leif  himself,  like  his 
men,  took  turns  in  staying  at  home  and  exploring  the 
country.  One  day  there  was  a  great  discovery.  Tyrker 
did  not  return  at  night,1  and  Leif  started  with  twelve  men 
to  find  him ;  but  they  had  gone  only  a  little  way  when 
Tyrker  met  them.  He  was  very  merry,  and  in  the 
gladness  of  his  heart  he  could  only  speak  at  first  in 
German,  smiling  and  rolling  his  eyes,  but  no  one  could 
understand  him.  After  a  while,  growing  calmer,  he  said 
in  Norse :  '  Something  new  have  I  found — vines  and 
grapes ;  believe  me,  it  is  true,  for  I  was  born  where 
there  is  no  lack  of  vines  and  grapes.'  And  Leif  said : 
'Now  we  have  to  divide  our  work,  day  and  day  about. 
We  must  gather  grapes  on  the  one,  and  on  the  other 
we  must  cut  vines  and  fell  wood  to  load  our  ship.'  So 
a  cargo  of  wood  was  hewn,  and  the  stern  boat  was  filled 
with  the  grapes  that  they  had  cut  [and  of  the  trees  of 
that  Vineland  they  took  samples,  and  of  the  self-sown 
wheat  of   its  fields,  and  of   its  maple  wood 2],  and   in  the 


meant.  The  last  reckoning  is  en- 
dorsed by  Laing  and  Anderson, 
Heimskringla,  Preliminary  Disserta- 
tion, and  by  the  mnch  higher  autho- 
rity of  Dr.  Gustav  Storm,  Studies  on 
Finland  Voyages,  pp.  307-12,  and 
of  Reeves,  Wineland  the  Good,  pp. 
181-5. 

1  Dr.  Storm  doubts  the  whole  of 
the  Tyrker  story,  and  considers  it 
an  interpolation,  like  the  narrative 
of  Biarne  ;  but  the  former  he  regards 


as  much  more  damaging  to  the  credi- 
bility of  the  Flatey  narrative.  On 
the  other  hand,  Tyrker  is  described 
in  a  vivid  way  that  does  not  wholly 
suit  this  view.  He  had  a  prominent 
forehead,  restless  eyes  and  small 
features,  was  diminutive  in  stature, 
and  though  nothing  much  to  look 
at,  had  great  skill  at  handicraft. 

2  '  Mosur.'  These  words  are  treated 
as  an  interpolation  by  Reeves,  Wine- 
land  the  Good,  p.  67. 


54 


THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION 


[Ch. 


spring  they  sailed  away,  and  Leif  called  that  country 
Vinland  [the  Good,  from  the  produce  of  its  grapes].  With 
a  fair  wind  they  came  to  Greenland,1  and  its  fells  below 
the  glaciers ;  and  thereafter  was  Leif  called  the  Lucky, 
and  gat  much  wealth  and  fame,  and  much  talk  was  there 
of  that  Vinland  journey  of  his. 

The  third  voyage  was  that  of  Leif's  brother  Thorvald. 
When  all  other  men  praised  the  deeds  that  had  been 
lately  done,  he  declared  that  it  was  not  enough,  and  that 
the  new  country  should  be  more  narrowly  explored ;  and 
for  that  end  he  asked  his  brother  to  lend  him  his  ship. 
Leif  granted  it  forthwith,  and  Thorvald  put  to  sea  with 
thirty  men.  Nothing  is  told  of  their  journey  until  they 
came  to  '  Leif's  Booths '  in  Vinland,  where  they  remained 
all  the  winter.  In  the  spring  Thorvald  ordered  some  of  his 
men  to  go  westward  in  the  ship's  long-boat  and  explore 
the  coast.  They  did  so,  and  found  the  land  beautiful  and 
well-wooded,  with  but  a  small  distance  between  the  sea 
and  the  woodland,  great  numbers  of  islands  and  shallows,  and 
a  beach  of  white  sand.  They  saw  no  sign  of  dwelling  for 
man  or  beast,  save  a  wooden  corn-barn  upon  an  island 
far  toward  the  west,  and  in  the  autumn  they  returned 
to  Leif's  Booths,  where  Thorvald  passed  another  winter. 
The  next  spring  (or  summer)  he  went  out  himself,  first 
eastward  and  then  northward,  to  examine  the  land, 
apparently  with  part  only  of  his  crew.  After  a  time  the 
Norsemen  came  to  a  ness  or  cape,2  where  a  storm  drove 
them  upon  land  and  broke  their  keel,  and  they   stayed  a 


1  On  the  way  home  he  resciied 
fifteen  Norsemen  including  one  Thorir, 
and  Gudrid  his  wife.  This  Gudrid 
afterwards  married  Thorstein  Ericson 
and  the  explorer  Thorfinn  Karlsefne  ; 
hence   the   notice   of    this   incident, 


which  helps  to  link  on  the  achieve- 
ments of  Karlsefne  to  the  family 
story  of  Red  Eric's  house. 

2  '  Kjalarness,'  often  taken  to  mean 
Cape  Cod,  is  perhaps  better  under- 
stood as  a  point  in  Nova  Scotia. 


II]  THORVALD    ERICSON    IN    VINLAND  55 

long  while  to  repair  the  damage.  And  when  they  left, 
they  raised  the  keel  upon  the  ness  and  named  the  place 
KeeKNess  [and  so  it  was  called  by  others  after  them]. 
Then  they  sailed  along  the  land  eastward  and  into  the 
mouth  of  the  adjoining  firth,  till  at  last  they  sighted  a 
beautiful  headland,  covered  with  wood,  where  Thorvald 
moored  the  vessel  and  laid  out  gangways  to  the  beach,  and 
went  on  shore,  saying :  '  I  would  gladly  set  up  my  farm 
here.' 

But  now  they  came  upon  the  first  traces  of  other  men. 
Far  off,  upon  the  white  sandy  beach,  three  distant  specks 
were  sighted ;  and  these  proved  to  be  three  skin  boats  of 
the  natives,1  with  three  men  hiding  under  each.  All  these 
people,  save  one,  were  taken  and  killed ;  but  he  escaped 
with  his  boat  to  a  place  within  the  fiord,  where  there  seemed 
to  be  several  dwellings  'like  little  lumps  on  the  ground.' 
A  heavy  drowsiness  now  fell  upon  the  iSTorsemen,  and  they 
neglected  to  keep  any  watch,  till  a  sudden  cry  aroused 
them, 'Awake,  Thorvald,  awake,  thou  and  all  thy  comrades, 
if  thou  wilt  save  thy  life.'  And  at  the  same  moment  came 
a  countless  host  from  up  the  fiord- in  skin-boats,  and  laid 
themselves  alongside.  The  Vikings  put  up  their  shield-wall 
along  the  gunwale,  and  kept  off  the  arrows  of  the  Skraelings 
till  the  foe  was  weary  of  the  assault,  and  made  away  as 
fast  as  they  could,  leaving  Thorvald  with  a  mortal  wound 
under  the  arm.  He  had  but  time  to  bid  his  men  carry  him 
to  the  point  where  he  had  wished  to  settle — for  it  was  fated 
that  he  would  stay  there  awhile,  but  with  a  cross  at  head 
and  feet — when  his  speech  failed  and  he  died,  the  first 
victim  of  these  hazardous  western  voyages.  With  his  last 
breath  Thorvald  warned  his  men  to  retrace  their  steps  and 
rejoin  their  companions:  but  they  stayed  in  that  country 
1  Elsewhere  called  Skraelings, 


56  THE    NORSEMEN"    AND    EXPLORATION  [Oh. 

another  winter,  gathering  wood  and  grapes,  and  loading  their 
ship ;  next  spring  the  united  company  returned  to  Eric's 
Fiord  in  Greenland,  bringing  heavy  tidings  to  Leif. 

Another  fruitless  venture  followed.  Thorstein  Ericson  1 
had  married  Gudrid,  the  widow  of  Thorir  the  Easterlin", 
whom  Leif  his  brother  had  rescued  from  a  rock  in  the 
ocean.  The  misfortune  of  another  brother  made  him  take 
a  keener  interest  in  the  new  discoveries ;  and  he  now 
bethought  him  that  he  would  go  to  Vinland  for  Thorvald's 
body.  He  equipped  Leif's  vessel,  and  with  his  wife  and 
twenty-five  men  he  put  to  sea.  But  the  whole  summer 
he  drove  about  in  the  ocean  without  finding  land,  or  know- 
ing where  he  was ;  and  in  the  first  week 2  of  winter  he 
came  back  without  result  to  Lysu  Fiord  in  the  '  Western 
Bay '  of  Greenland. 

Then  follows  in  the  Saga  a  long  and  highly  fabulous 
story  of  Thorstein's  death  and  the  prophecies  of  his 
corpse.  The  practical  issue  of  all  this  was  to  be  found 
in  the  third  marriage  of  Gudrid  to  an  'Iceland  man,'  as 
foretold3  by  the  ghost — in  other  words,  to  the  famous 
Thorfinn  Karlsefne,  whose  journey  is  next  described. 

He  came  in  a  ship4  from  Norway  to  Greenland  in  the 
year  of  Thorstein's  death ;  and  stayed  with  Leif  at 
Brattahlid,  the  home  of  Bed  Eric's  clan.  In  the  same 
winter  he  married  Gudrid,  '  being  a  man  of  great  wealth.' 
At  this  time,  as  before,  much  was  said  about  a  A'inland 
voyage;    and   both   Gudrid    and    others    urged   Thorfinn  to 

1  At  that  time,  adds  Flatey  [i.e.    I        :;  The    ghost    also    foretells     that 
when  Tliorvald  was  buried  at  '  Cross-   |    Gudrid     will     in     later     days     '  go 

abroad  and  to  the  south,'  i.e. 
(probably)  make  a  pilgrimage  to 
Rome. 

4  No  hint  is  given  in  Flatey  of 
more  than  one  ship  in  this  expe- 
dition. 


ness'],  Christianity  had  become  law 
in  Greenland,  but  Red  Eric  had 
already  died. 

2  The  Icelanders  reckoned  winter 
from  the  first  Saturday  after  the  14th 
of  October, 


■II.]      THORSTEIN  ERIGSON  AND  THORFINN  KARLSEFNE     57 

undertake  the  same.  Bat  he  determined,  if  he  went  at 
all,  to  do  more  than  reconnoitre  and  return.  If  possible, 
he  was  resolved  to  settle  and  colonise,  if  not  to  conquer. 
With  these  larger  ambitions,  an  ampler  force  and  greater 
resources  were  necessary.  So  he  took  with  him  [in  his 
own  ship]  sixty  men,  five  women,  and  cattle  of  all  kinds  ; 
with  his  followers  he  made  agreement  that  he  and  they 
should  .have  equal  shares  in  any  gain  that  might  be  won  ; 
Leif  once  more  lent  his  Booths  in  Vinland  ;  and  Thorhnn 
sailed  out  to  the  West,  Probably  he  had  with  him  men 
who  had  already  been  on  the  voyage,  for  he  escaped 
Thorstein's  ill-luck,  and  came  direct  to  the  Vine  Country 
with  all  his  men  and  goods.  The  new  settlers  were 
cheered  to  find  that  a  storm  had  lately  driven  a  whale 
on  shore  at  Leif's  Booths,  and  thus  provided  them  with 
abundant  food.  They  were  soon  busy  gathering  the  grapes 
of  the  favoured  land,  and  they  felled  wood  diligently  for 
shipping.1 

The  first  winter  passed  quietly  enough,  but  in  the 
summer  the  Norsemen  became  aware  of  the  presence  of  the 
Skraelings.  Suddenly  a  great  troop  of.  men  issued  from  the 
woods  with  skin  bundles,  making  as  if  they  would  trade  in 
grey  furs,  sables,  and  all  kinds  of  peltries,  but  coming 
dangerously  near  to  the  cattle.  Frightened  by  the  bellow- 
ing of  a  bull,  they  vanished  again  into  the  forest;  but 
ere  long  they  returned,  once  more  offering  to  barter.  Now 
they  walked  right  up  to  the  houses  of  Karlsefne's  people, 
and    even    tried    to    come    in,    but   this   was   not   permitted. 

1  Placing  it   upon    a    cliff  to  dry,    I    restless  and  vicious  ;  game  and  fish 
where   the  garrison   often  men  was   j    are  found  in  the  country.     One  of  the 
afterwards  sent,     Flatey  adds  various 
details  which  seem  to  point  to  a  true 
record — the  cattle  heing  turned    out 
on  the  land,  the  males  soon  become 


Skraelings,  who  seemed  their  chief, 
kills  one  of  his  men  with  an  axe  be- 
longing to  the  Northmen. 


58  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Oh. 

Neither  folk  understood  the  speech  of  the  other;  but  the 
Skraelings  showed  by  signs  that  they  would  like  to  have 
weapons  in  exchange  for  their  skins.  Thorfmn  forbade  his 
men  to  sell  their  arms,  but  he  told  the  women  to  take  out 
milk  and  dairy  stuff,  and  when  the  savages  saw  these  things 
they  were  eager  to  buy  them.  So  the  Skraelings  '  carried 
away  their  winnings  in  their  stomachs,'  and  parted  with 
their  furs  to  small  advantage.  But  the  Norsemen,  full  of 
suspicion  of  their  visitors,  made  a  strong  fence  round  the 
habitation,  and  put  all  ready  for  defence,  when  the  time  of 
need  should  come. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  next  winter  reappeared  the 
Skraelings  in  much  greater  number  than  before,  with  the 
same  wares.  And  again  Karlsefne  told  the  women  to  carry 
out  the  same  food  as  was  best  liked  before,  and  nothing  else. 

But  this  meeting  was  not  destined  to  pass  off  so  peace- 
ably, and  the  unseen  powers  showed  plainly  that  a  threaten- 
ing future  hung  over  the  colonists.  A  child  had  just  been 
born  to  Thorfmn  and  Gudrid — Snorre,  the  earliest  American 
of  European  parentage  whom  history  records.  While  the 
mother  sat  by  the  cradle  within  the  door  there  came  a 
shadow  to  the  entrance,  and  a  woman  went  in  with  a  black 
kirtle  and  a  snood  or  fillet  around  her  head;  she  had  bright 
chestnut  hair  and  was  very  pale,  and  her  eyes  were  larger 
than  are  ever  seen  in  the  head  of  man.  And  the  good  wife 
put  out  her  hand  to  her  that  she  might  sit  clown  beside  her, 
'  and  lo,  there  was  a  great  noise  and  the  woman  was  no 
longer  there.'  And  at  the  same  moment  was  one  of  the 
Skraelings  slain  because  he  would  take  the  weapons  of  the 
Norsemen ;  and  all  the  savages  tied.  Then  Karlsefne 
ordered  that  some  should  go  to  the  woods  and  make  a 
clearance  for  the  cattle  against  the  time  that  the  Skraelings 
might   come    out   of    the    forest,   and    that   ten    other   men 


II.]  THORFINN    KARLSEFNE    IN    VINLAND  59 

should  go  to  a  ness  hard  by.1  And  just  where  he  had 
foretold,  at  a  place  between  the  forest  and  a  lake,  the 
Norsemen  fought  with  the  Skraelings,  and  slew  many  of 
them,  and  the  rest  fled  into  the  forest. 

With  this  outbreak  all  things  were  changed.  The  hope 
of  a  peaceful  settlement  was  gone  ;  and  Thorfinn  seems  to 
have  despaired  of  settling  in  the  new  country  on  other  than 
peaceful  terms.  The  numbers  and  the  subtlety  of  the 
barbarian  foe  ;  their  deadly  arrows ;  the  warning  fate  of 
Thorvald ;  the  vast  distance  of  the  colonists  from  their 
nearest  base  in  Greenland ;  the  scanty  numbers  of  his 
people : — all  these  must  have  weighed  with  Karlsefne  and 
led  him  to  abandon  the  enterprise,  so  carefully  prepared, 
so  vigorously  begun.  He  remained  in  Vinland  the  rest  of 
that  winter,  but  in  the  spring  he  returned  with  a  heavy 
load  of  wood  and  grapes  and  peltries,  but  also  with  the 
weight  of  a  great  failure.  For  an  enterprise  had  miscarried 
which,  as  we  now  can  see,  might  have  altered  the  course  of 
history,  which  even  at  the  time  aroused  great  hopes,  and 
which,  if  successful,  would  certainly  have  added  a  new 
chapter  to  the  Middle-Age  development  of  mankind. 

According  to  Reel  Eric  Saga  (although  this  is  not 
recorded  in  the  Flaky  Book)  one  of  Thorfinn's  lieutenants 
was  Thorvard  of  Gardar,  the  husband  of  Freydis,  a  bastard 
daughter  of  Eed  Eric  and  a  woman  of  infinite  villainy. 
He  and  his  wife  thus  form  a  link  between  the  voyage  just 
recorded  and  that,  of  doubtful  and  highly  mystical  character, 
which  follows  next  and  last  in  Matey.  In  the  same  summer 
that  Karlsefne  returned  from  Vinland,  a  vessel  arrived  in 
Greenland  from  Norway  under  two  brethren,  of  Iceland  race, 
Helge  and  Finnboge,  and  they  remained  all  that  winter. 
'  And  now  men  began  to  talk  again  about  a  Vinland 
1  Probably  a  strategic  point  commanding  the  settlement, 


60  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Ch. 

voyage,  as  both  a  gainful  thing  and  an  honourable ; ' 
and  Freydis,  coming  from  Gardar,  proposed  to  these  new- 
comers that  they  should  go  with  her  to  Vinland  in  their 
ship  and  share  equally  in  all  the  profit  they  might  make. 
Each  side,  Freydis  and  the  brothers,  had  the  right  to  take 
thirty  men — besides  the  women — but  the  cunning  daughter 
of  Eric  did  not  abide  by  the  compact ;  for  her  warriors 
were  thirty-five  in  number.  Leif  again  lent  his  Booths, 
and  they  sailed  ;  Helge  and  Finnboge  having  the  larger  ship, 
but  fewer  men  ;  Freydis  and  Thorvard  the  smaller  vessel, 
with  a  stronger  crew.  When  they  came  to  Vinland,  Freydis 
declared  Leif's  houses  were  for  the  sole  use  of  herself,  Leif's 
sister,  and  her  people ;  the  others  had  no  right  there. 
Therefore  Helge  and  his  brother  built  them  a  shed  further 
from  the  sea,  on  the  borders  of  a  lake.  At  first  the  settlers 
had  some  sports  in  common,  the  brethren  doing  all  in  their 
power  to  promote  concord ;  but  as  the  leader  of  the  other 
party  was  steadily  in  search  of  a  quarrel,  the  games  soon 
ceased,  and  none  even  went  from  one  house  to  the  other. 

The  final  catastrophe  is  among  the  most  mysterious 
passages  of  the  Saga,  if  the  whole  narrative  of  this  voyage 
be  not  rejected  as  a  legendary  and  obviously  unhistorical 
addition.  Thorvard,  we  are  told,  enraged  to  madness  by 
the  false  charges  of  his  wife  against  Helge  and  Finnboge, 
surprised  and  slaughtered  them  with  all  their  followers, 
and  among  them  five  women,  whom  Freydis  murdered 
with  her  own  hand.  The  explanation  is  easy,  that  the 
massacre  was  an  act  of  jealous  vengeance ;  that  Freydis 
was  an  adulteress  who  urged  Thorvard  to  this  as  a  screen 
for  her  own  guilt,  and  that  her  accusations  were  not 
wholly  false  ;  but  the  Saga's  extreme  reticence  and 
obscurity  puts  a  certain  difficulty  into  this  reading  of  the 
story,    and    this   difficulty   is    increased    by   the    wholesale 


II.]  PREYDIS    IN    VINLAND  til 

character  of  the  butchery,  and  the  fate  of  the  women.  On 
the  whole,  passion  does  not  seem  to  be  the  complete  explana- 
tion of  the  tragedy,  whose  slow  approach  the  Saga  indicates 
with  all  the  mystery,  but  little  of  the  subtlety  or  the  coher- 
ence, of  a  Greek  dramatist. 

Early    in    the    next    summer   the   survivors   returned   to 
Eric's  Fiord,  pretending  that  their  companions  had  stayed 
behind   in   Vinland.        Freydis    had   bribed   her   people   to 
conceal  the  crime,  but  most  of  it  soon  came  out ;  Leif  dis- 
covering part  by  the  argument  of  torture  as  applied  to  three 
of   his   sister's  followers.      The  story  ends   with  an  incon- 
clusiveness  which  excellently  suits  the  narrative.     Leif,  after 
all  his  vigorous  efforts  to  ascertain  the  truth,  does  no  more. 
'  I  do  not  care  to   use   severity,'  he  declares,  more  in  the 
style  of  a  modern  humanitarian  than  of  an  old  Norseman, 
'  and  therefore  I  will  not  treat  Freydis  as  she  deserves,  but 
this  I  will  foretell  of  her,  that  her  posterity  can  never  thrive.' 
There   is   but   little    more   recorded  in    the   Flateyarbok 
of    these    Vinland   voyages   and   their   leaders,   but   a   few 
words     are    added    on   Thorfhm   Karlsefne.      Freydis   had 
only  just  returned  to   Eric's   Fiord   when   he   sailed   from 
Greenland  back  to  Norway,  '  and  it  was  common  talk  that 
never   had   a   richer  ship    sailed   on  this  voyage   than    the 
vessel   that  he    steered.'      Being  both  rich  and  prosperous, 
it  is  not  astonishing  that  Thorfinn  was  now  'held  in  great 
esteem,'  even  among  the  landed  men  of  the  home  kingdom. 
Next  year  he  came  again  to  Iceland,  but  soon  after  this  he 
died  ;  his  wife  Gudrid  became  a  nun ;    Snorre,  his  Vinland- 
born  son,  seems  never  to  have  returned  to  his  first  home; 
and   so    darkness    falls    upon    the    chief    record    of    early 
European  discovery  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  Saga  of  Eric  the  lied,  in   so  far  as  it   differs   from 


62  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Ch. 

the  Flatey  Book,  or  contains  a  fuller  narrative,  may  be  re- 
garded (as  we  have  seen)  in  the  light  of  a  primary  text;  and 
it  therefore  remains  for  us  to  see  what  it  adds  to,  or  alters 
in,  the  narrative  of  Vinland  voyages  already  summarised. 
Beginning  with  a  reference  to  Leif  Ericson  as  the  discoverer 
of  the  western  country,  not  direct  from  Greenland  but  on 
a  return  voyage  from  Norway  to  Eric's  Fiord,  and  wholly 
ignoring  the  previous  journey  of  Biarne  recorded  in  Flatey, 
the  Eric  Saga  adds  a  few  points  to  the  history  of  Thorstein's 
fruitless  adventure.  No  separate  voyage  of  Thorvald  Ericson 
is  admitted ;  his  fate  is  here  associated  with  the  great 
enterprise  of  Thorfinn  Karlsefne ;  and  Thorstein's  voyage  is 
made  an  altogether  earlier  occurrence.  Leif's  account  of 
the  western  lands  had  given  rise  to  much  talk  of  explora- 
tion, and  both  Bed  Eric  his  father,  and  Thorstein  his 
brother,  made  ready  to  follow  up  his  discoveries.  Some 
little  time  before  there  had  arrived  at  Brattahlid1  a  noble 
Icelander,  Thorbiorn  Vifilson,  and  his  daughter  Gudrid  or 
Thurid.  He  was  an  old  friend  of  Eric's,  and  a  man  of  good 
name  and  family,  but  his  fortune  had  decayed,  and  he  now 
came  to  Greenland  in  a  ship  that  plays  a  prominent  part 
in  the  Saga.  With  it  Eric  and  Thorstein  now  made  their 
fruitless  quest  of  Vinland,  and  with  the  same  vessel  (among 
others)  Thorfinn  Karlsefne  renewed  the  enterprise  some 
years  later.  Thorbiorn  probably  arrived  at  Eric's  Eiord 
during  Leif's  absence  in  Norway  and  'America';  and  both 
he  and  all  his  household  had  already  become  Christians, 
before  the  new  faith  had  been  made  law  in  Iceland. 

Eric  and  Thorstein,  then,  borrowed  Thorbiorn's  ship  and 
set  out  with  twenty  men ;  but  they  could  not  steer  the 
course  they  wished,  and  were  tossed  about  upon  the  ocean, 
once  coming  in  sight  of  Iceland,  and  at  another  time  seeing 

1  First  at  Heriulfsness. 


n.]  'red  eric's  saga':  fresh  points  63 

birds  from  the  Irish  coast.  At  the  beginning  of  winter 
they  came  back,  exhausted  and  disappointed,  to  their  home, 
where  Thorstein  consoled  himself  with  Thorbiorn's  daughter. 
Both  texts  agree  in  describing  his  death  and  the  ghostly 
wonders  x  that  accompanied  it,  as  well  as  the  speed)^  arrival 
of  Thorfinn  Karlsefne ;  but  from  this  point  the  Eric  Saga 
passes  into  a  Thorfinn  Saga,  and  is  clearly  based  upon  better 
and  fuller  tradition  than  the  Matey  narrative.  Thorfinn  is 
described  as  a  successful  and  far-travelled  merchant,  but 
no  mere  chapman,  being  of  good  family  and  a  great  grand- 
son of  the  famous  Icelander  Thord  the  Yeller,  a  son  of  the 
no  less  respectable  Thord  Horse-Head,  and  a  descendant  on 
his  great-grandmother's  side  of  the  Irish  King  Kiarval.  In 
his  own  ship  he  brought  forty  men  from  Norway  to  Green- 
land, and  he  was  accompanied  by  three  friends,  afterwards 
prominent  in  the  Vinland  explorations,  Snorre  Thorbrandson, 
Biarne  Grimolfson,  and  Thorhall  Cramlison ;  the  two  latter 
together  commanded  another  vessel.  He  was  cordially  re- 
ceived at  Brattahlid,  married  the  widow2  of  Thorstein 
Ericson,  and  adopted  (with  his  new  relationship)  the  Vinland 
ambitions  of  Red  Eric's  house.  With  the  aid  of  Snorre  he 
fitted  out  his  own  ship  for  the  passage  ;  Biarne  and  Thor- 
hall made  ready  theirs  ;  and  a  third,  Thorbiorn's  vessel,  in 
which  Thorstein  had  ventured,  was  equipped  by  Thorvard, 
the  husband  of  Ereydis,  Thorvald  Ericson,  and  Thorhall 
the  huntsman,  Eric's  old  steward  and  trusted  adviser. 
This  Thorhall  was  a  poor  Christian,  adds  the  Saga,  but  he 
had  a  wide  knowledge  of  unsettled  lands;  in  appear- 
ance he  was  dark  and  of  giant  build;  he  wTas  elderly,  over- 
bearing, and  taciturn,  underhand  in  his  dealings,  offensive 
in  his  language,  always  ready  to  stir  up  evil — in  a  word, 
Eric's  bad  genius   and    the    curse    of  Thorfmn's   enterprise. 

1  Though  differing  in  various  details. 

2  Gudrid.  Thorbiorn's  daughter. 


64        THE  NORSEMEN  AND  EXPLORATION       [Oh. 

The  Saga  suggests  that  he  was  no  better  than  a  wizard  ; 
he  boasted  openly  that  his  patron,  Thor  the  Trusty,  was  of 
more  avail  than  Christ ;  he  opposed  Karlsefne  in  his  plans, 
and  composed  ribald  verses  on  the  poor  success  of  the  enter- 
prise and  the  lack  of  vines  in  '  Vinland.' 

The  sixty  men  and  five  women  of  Thorfinn's  company,  as 
given  in  Flateij,  may  have  been  the  crew  of  his  own  ship ; 
but  they  evidently  formed  only  a  part  of  the  expedition. 
The  whole  fleet  carried  one  hundred  and  sixty  persons. 
They  sailed  first  from  Eric's  Fiord,  near  Cape  Earewell  in 
Greenland,  northwards  to  the  '  Western  Bay,'  just  within 
Davis  Straits,  and  so  to  'Biarne'  [or  Disco  Island.1]  From 
this  point  they  came  south  two  days  and  nights  to  Hellu- 
land,  where  they  found  many  Arctic  foxes  and  great  slabs  of 
stone,  some  a  dozen  ells  across.  Two  days  further  to  the 
south  they  came  to  Markland,'2  which  they  described  as 
well-wooded  and  stocked  with  animals ;  thence,  sailing  on 
to  the  south  for  a  long  space,  they  had  land  to  starboard, 
and  at  last  came  to  a  cape  where  they  found  a  ship's  keel, 
and  so  named  Keel-Ness.  Here  there  were  great  strands 
and  long  sand-beaches,  and  they  called  them  the  Wonder 
Strands,  because  they  were  so  long  to  sail  by.  After  this 
the  shore  was  much  broken  with  inlets ;  and  here  they  put 
on  land  two  of  their  swiftest  people  to  explore  the  country. 
Both  these  runners  were  Gaels  (or  Irish);  they  were  named  Haki 
and  Hakia  ;  and  King  Olaf  Tryggveson  had  in  former  days 
given  them 3  to  Leif  Ericson.     In  three  '  half  days '  the  Gaels 


1  The  '  Bear  isle '  would  be  in  N. 
Lat.  60=,  if  this  identification  can  be 
maintained. 

2  An  island,  adds  the  Saga  here, 
lay  off  this  Forest  land  to  the  South- 
East,  and  there  they  found  a  Bear, 
and  they  called  this  Bear  island 
(Biarne),  the  same  name  as  the  first 


place  they  reached  after  leaving  the 
West  Bight  or  Vestribygd. 

3  They  were  no  doubt  among  the 
captives  he  took  on  his  Viking 
cruises.  The  woman's  name  is  also 
written  Hekia  and  Haekia  ;  these 
Gaels  were  fleeter  than  deer,  we  are 


II-]  THORFINN    KARLSEFNE  :     FULLER    RECORDS  65 

returned  from  the  south  with  grapes  and  ears  of  wheat1 
which  grew  wild,  as  they  said.  So  the  Norsemen  sailed  on 
till  they  came  to  where  the  shore  was  broken  with  inlets ; 
and  they  put  into  a  fiord  running  into  the  land.  And 
in  the  mouth  of  this  was  an  island  swarming  with  eider 
ducks,  and  round  the  island  [and  high  into  the  fiord  there 
ran  strong  currents.  So  from  these  currents  they  named 
them  '  Stream  Island  '  and  '  Stream  Firth.'  -  Here  Karlsefne 
settled  for  the  winter,  enjoying  the  '  fine  hilly  country  there- 
abouts.' In  the  spring  he  dividedjiis  people;  northwards  he 
sent  Thorhall  with  eight  men  to  seek  for  Vinland,3  beyond 
the  Wonder  Strands  ;  while  he  himself,  with  one  hundred 
and  fifty  followers,  went  south.  Thorhall's  party  passed  the 
Wonder  Strands  and  Keel-Ness,  intending  to  cruise  west- 
ward around  the  Cape,  but  they  were  driven  by  westerly 
gales  away  from  the  coast  and  out  to  sea.  Finally,  they 
were  thrown  ashore  in  Ireland,  where  they  were  seized  and 
enslaved,  Thorhall  himself  perishing.  Meantime  Thoriinn, 
with  the  main  body,  cruised  south  for  a  long  time  until 
they  came  to  a  river  that  flowed  down  from  the  upland  into 
a  lake  and  so  into  the  sea.  At  the  mouth  of  this  stream 
were  great  bars,  and  it  could  only  be  entered  at  the  height 
of  the  flood-tide.  They  called  the  place  '  Hop '  (a  small  land- 
locked bay),  and  in  the  lowlands  hereabouts  they  found 
self-sown  wheat  fields,  and  vines  upon  the  higher  ground. 
Every  brook  was  full  of  fish,  and  the  settlers  caught  halibut 
in  pits  upon  the  shores.     In  the  woods  around  were  many 


also  told  ;  they  were  on  board 
Karlsefne's  own  ship  ;  they  each 
wore  a  garment  [Irish  ?  ]  called 
Kiafal,  open  at  the  sides,  sleeve- 
loss,  with  a  hood  at  the  top,  and 
fastened  between  the  legs  with 
buttons  and  loops. 

1  In  another  reading,  '  A  bunch  of 


grapes  and  an  ear  of  new-sown 
wheat. ' 

2  Straum-ey  and  Straum-fiord. 

n  Here  in  the  narrower  sense,  ap- 
parently :  viz.  the  country  at  Leif's 
Booths.  No  distinction  of  this  kind 
appears  in  Flatey. 


66  THE  NORSEMEN  AND  EXPLORATION       [Ch. 

wild  animals  of  various  kinds.  They  stayed  here  a  fortnight 
with  their  live  stock  in  great  contentment ;  in  their  fancied 
security  they  kept  no  watch.  But  early  one  morning  there 
came  to  them  a  fleet  of  skin-canoes,  full  of  ill-looking 
folk,  of  sallow  colour,  with  large  eyes,  broad  cheeks,  and 
ugly  heads  of  hair.1  These  people  surveyed  the  strangers 
for  a  time,2  and  then  paddled  away  to  the  southward,  and 
were  lost  to  sight  behind  a  cape  that  was  near. 

Thorfinn  Karlsefne  decided  to  winter  at  '  Hop,'  and  put 
up  dwelling-houses  for  his  men  a  little  above  the  bay, 
some  of  their  booths  being  near  the  lake,  and  others  further 
away.  The  weather  was  mild,  without  so  much  as  one 
fall  of  snow,  and  the  Norsemen's  cattle  were  able  to  live  in 
the  open  field.  [On  the  shortest  day  the  sun  was  above  the 
horizon  during  the  watch  before  and  after  that  of  mid-day.] 

After  a  time,  when  spring  opened,  the  skin-canoes  came 
again  from  the  south  in  such  numbers  that  it  was  as  if  coals 
had  been  scattered  broadcast  out  before  the  bay,  their  crews 
steering  up  close  to  the  habitations  of  the  colony.  At  first 
they  bartered  grey  furs  for  bits  of  red  cloth  and  milk  soup, 
but  soon  they  endeavoured  to  obtain  weapons  for  their  peltries, 
and  above  all,  spears  and  swords.  Thorfinn  and  Snorre, 
however,  took  care  to  prevent  this  exchange.  As  the  barter 
went  on,  an  ever  larger  stock  of  furs  was  sold  for  the  same 
amount  of  red  cloth,  which  the  Skraelings  would  often  bind 
round  their  heads.  Suddenly  a  bull  that  belonged  to  the 
Northmen  ran  out  of  the  woods  bellowing,  and  the  Skraelings 


1  This  has,  of  course,  been  termed 
a  '  pretty  accurate  description  of 
Esquimaux,  and,  unless  an  interpola- 
tion, almost  conclusive  on  the 
Skraelings'  identity. ' 


men  took  this  for  a  sign  of  peace  and 
held  up  a  white  shield  in  answer.  On 
the  Skraelings'  second  visit  this  was 
repeated ;  but  on  the  third,  the 
natives,  now  becoming  hostile,  waved 


3  The  Saga  adds  that  on  their  ap-  '    their  staves  in  a  direction  contrary 

pearance  they  brandished  staves  with  to  the  sun,  and  were  answered  with 

a  noise  like  Hails  in  the  same  direc-  ;    red  shields. 
tion  as  the  sun  moves.     The  Norse- 


II.]  THOEFINN    KARLSEFNE  :     FULLER    DETAILS  67 

took  fright  and  rowed  away  to  the  south  along  the  coast. 
For  three  weeks  no  more  was  seen  of  them  ;  but  then  they 
approached  again  from  the  south  in  great  numbers,  as  if  a 
stream  were  pouring  down,  brandishing  staves  in  a  menacing 
manner,  and  uttering  loud  cries.  Thorfinn,  taking  all  these 
signs  as  hostile,  hoisted  a  red  shield,  and  prepared  to  fight : 
while  the  Skraelings  sprang  from  their  boats  and  discharged 
missiles  from  slings  upon  Ivarlsefne's  men.  After  a  time  a 
weird  thing  happened.  The  natives  raised  on  a  pole  a  thing 
like  a  ball,  blackish  in  colour,  and  about  the  size  of  a  sheep's 
belly,  and  hurled  this  upon  the  ground  above  the  Northmen. 
It  fell  with  a  frightful  noise  and  struck  a  panic  into  the 
colonists,  who  fled  up  along  the  river-banks  to  some  jutting 
crags,  where  they  fought  again.  The  terror  and  confusion 
of  the  Northmen  was  complete ;  in  vain  Eed  Eric's  daughter 
attempted  to  rally  them ;  one  and  all  took  refuge  in  the 
forest.  But  the  Skraelings  in  their  turn  were  frightened  by 
the  action  of  Freydis,  who  appeared  to  them  like  a  super- 
natural being.  Thorbrand  Snorreson  lay  dead  on  the  ground, 
his  skull  broken  by  a  flat  stone  (the  Saga  here  conveys  the 
impression  that  the  Skraelings  mysteriously  surrounded  and 
destroyed  their  foes),  but  Freydis  snatched  up  his  sword, 
pregnant  as  she  was,  bared  her  bosom,  and  struck  herself  on 
the  breast  with  it.  At  this  portent  the  natives  rushed  back 
to  the  shore,  jumped  into  their  boats,  and  rowed  away. 

After  the  battle,  Karlsefne's  people  returned  to  their 
homes,  and  began  to  '  weigh  carefully  what  throng  of  men 
that  could  have  been,  which  had  seemed  to  descend  upon 
them  from  the  land.'  They  came  to  the  strange  conclusion 
that  this  party  of  their  assailants  was  only  a  delusion 
of   their   own1   and  that   the   real   attack   came    from    one 


1  Apparently  effected  by  witch- 
craft. A  story  is  added  about  the 
savages  finding  an  axe  and  trying  it 


first  upon  wood,  then  upon  stone ;  as 
it  failed  to  cut  the  latter  they  threw 
it  away. 


08  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Ch. 

side  only,  from  the  sea  and  skin-canoes  ;  yet  the  settlers 
were  so  dispirited  by  the  enmity  of  the  natives  that  they 
resolved  to  abandon  Hop.  So  they  sailed  away  along  the 
coast,  where,  to  the  northward,  they  found  and  killed  five 
Skraelings,  looking  like  banished  men,  and  clad  in  skin 
doublets,  who  were  lying  asleep  on  the  beach,  with  their  boat 
beside  them,  containing  some  animal  marrow  mixed 
with  blood.  Proceeding  onwards,  Thorfinn  and  his  men 
came  to  a  cape  that  looked  like  a  cake  of  dung  from 
the  animals  that  lay  there  at  night.  Arriving  again  at 
Stream  Firth,  they  found  abundance  of  all  necessaries, 
and  here  Biarne  and  Freydis  remained  behind  (as  some 
say)  with  one  hundred  of  the  settlers ;  while  Thorfinn 
Karlsefne,  and  Snorre  Thorbrandson  went  to  the  south 
with  forty  others ;  this  last  force  stayed  at  Hop  about 
two  months,  or  a  little  less,  and  returned  again  to  the 
Stream  Island  and  Bay  in  the  same  summer.  After 
this,  Thorfinn  left  most  of  his  people  at  Stream  Fiord, 
going  on  himself  with  one  ship  to  look  for  Thorhall  and 
the  eight  lost  men.  He  sailed  round  Keel-Ness,  keeping 
northward  at  first,  and  afterwards  west,  but  could  find  no 
one.  All  this  time  he  had  the  land  to  larboard  of  him, 
covered  with  thick  forests  and  fringed  with  hills  ;  and  these 
hills,  he  thought,  were  all  one  range  with  the  high  ground  at 
Hop,  Stream  Fiord  being  about  equidistant  between  the 
two. 

Karlsefne  and  his  men  coasted  along  this  forest  shore- 
land  till  they  came  to  a  river  which  flowed  from  east  to 
west ;  into  the  mouth  of  this  they  sailed,  and  lay  to  by  the 
southern  bank  of  the  same.  Here  a  marvellous  adventure 
occurred  :  a  Vnipecl,  or  one-legged  man,  came  up  close  to  the 
ships  and  killed  Thorvald  Ericson,  shooting  an  arrow  into 
his  vitals,  as  he  sat  at  the   helm.     Thorvald  drew  out  the 


ii]      thorfinn's  enterprise  :    fuller  details       G9 

arrow  before  he  died,  and  exclaimed  :  '  There  is  fat  around  my 
paunch  ;  we  have  hit  upon  a  faithful  country,  and  yet  we  are 
not  like  to  get  much  profit  by  it.'  The  first  clause  of  this 
dying  speech  is  exactly  the  same  as  part  of  the  last  song  of 
Thormod  the  Coal-brow  Skald  after  the  battle  of  Stiklestad ; 
and  the  whole  adventure  is  probably  a  compilation  from  the 
fashionable  mirabilia  of  the  Middle  Ages,  which  placed  the 
One-Legged  Folk  in  various  outlandish  regions,  usually  in  the 
south  of  Africa.  Some  have  thought  the  story  is  introduced 
to  give  embellishment  to  the  death  of  Thorvald  Ericson,  who 
was  too  important  a  person  to  be  dismissed  in  an  ordinary 
manner,  and  who,  as  we  may  fairly  assume  from  the  general 
coincidence  of  this  narrative  with  Flatey,  really  perished  in 
the  new  world. 

The  explorers  now  sailed  away  from  the  land  of  the 
Unipeds ;  they  spent  yet  a  third  winter  in  the  new  world, 
at  Stream  Fiord  ;  but  here  quarrels  broke  out  between  the 
colonists  over  the  women  of  their  company,  and  in  the 
spring  they  returned  to  Greenland.  Sailing  with  southerly 
winds  they  came  first  to  Markland ;  and  here  they  fell 
in  with  five  Skraelings.  Two  of  these,  who  were  boys,  they 
took  with  them,  and  taught  the  Norse  tongue ;  and  from 
them  they  learned  much  about  the  SkraeKng  folk — as, 
for  instance,  that  they  had  a  father  named  Uvaegi,  a 
mother  called  Vaetilldi,  and  two  kinms,  Avaldamon  and 
Valdidada,  that  they  had  no  houses,  that  they  lived  in 
holes  and  caves,  and  that  they  knew  of  a  land  '  on  the 
other  side '  over  against  their  country,  inhabited  by  a  race 
clothed  in  white,  wdio  had  a  way  of  yelling  loudly,  and  often 
carried  poles  before  them  with  rags  attached.  The  North- 
men believed  this  country  must  have  been  White  Man's 
Land  or  Ireland  the  Great.  Karlsefne  had,  in  the  early 
part  of  his  venture,  become  separated  from  Thorhall  ;  now, 


70  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Ch. 

on  his  return,  he  lost  the  company  of  one  of  his  other 
captains,  Biarne  Grimolfson,  who  was  driven  by  storms  into 
the  Irish  Ocean,  into  waters  so  infested  with  worms  that 
his  ship  was  like  to  sink,  and  it  went  hard  with  the  crew 
to  save  even  a  part  of  their  number  in  the  long-boat.1 

So  much  for  the  narrative  of  the  Western  voyages  enter- 
prised  by  Bed  Eric's  House  and  friends,  as  told  in  Matey 
and  the  Eric  Saga  ;  these  give  us  by  far  the  most  impor- 
tant aud  ample  treatment  of  '  America '  in  Scandinavian 
literature ;  and  with  their  conclusion  it  only  remains  to  add 
a  few  scattered  data  to  the  most  remarkable  chapter 
in  mediaeval  exploration.  There  are,  however,  some  later 
references  to  a  continued  but  extremely  slender  intercourse 
between  Vinland  and  the  Greenlandic  and  Icelandic  settle- 
ments of  the  Norsemen.  Thus  we  hear  of  Bishop  Eric 
going  to  the  Grape  Country  from  Eric's  Fiord  in  1121 ; 
and,  more  doubtfully,  of  clergy  from  the  Greenland  diocese 
of  Gardar,  in  the  Austribygd,  sailing  to  lands  in  the  west, 
far  north  of  Vinland,  in  1266;  of  the  two  Helgasons  dis- 
covering a  country  west  of  Iceland  in  1285 ;  and  of  a 
voyage  from  Greenland  to  Markland  in  1347,  undertaken 
by  a  crew  of  only  seventeen  men. 

From  1112  to  1409  there  was  a  regular  succession  of 
Greenland  bishops,  and  the  names  of  seventeen  have  been 
preserved,  beginning  with  Arnold  in  1124.2  Earlier  than 
this,  in  1075,  Archbishop  Adalbert  of  Bremen  had  been 
requested,  by  the  Norse  colonists  of  this  remote   Christian 


1  Thorfinn's  son  Snorre,   says  Red 
Eric  Saga,  was  born  during  the  first 


Preliminary  Dissertation  to  theHeims- 
kringla,     especially     p.     186 ;     and 


autumn  of  Thoriinn  Karlsefne's   ex-       Rasmus     Anderson,      America      not 


pedition,  and  was  three  winters  old 
when  they  took  their  departure. 


discovered     by     Columbus,     a     good 
study  of  the  Vinland  Voyages,  with 


!  See  S.Laing  and  Rasmus  Anderson,    i    an  absurd  title,  1883. 


II.] 


LATER    VOYAGES    TO    VINLAND 


71 


outpost,  to  send  them  clergy  to  baptize,  bury,  and  perform 
the  sacraments  of  the  Church.1  At  the  end  of  the  Crusading 
Period  these  Greenland  colonists,  in  their  two  chief  settle- 
ments of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Bays,  were  still  maintain- 
ing themselves  against  the  climate  and  the  savages,  against 
the  ice  and  the  Esquimaux.  In  the  Austribygd  or  East 
Bight,  which  was  by  far  the  more  important,  was  placed  the 
Cathedral  and  the  Bishop's  home,  eleven  other  churches,  two 
monasteries,  and  one  hundred  and  ninety  farms  or  groups  of 
dwellings,  composing  two  little  boroughs  or  towns ;  in  the 
Vestribygd  were  three  churches  and  ninety  farms.  At 
other  places,  probably  a  good  way  to  the  north  of  these 
plantations,  definite  traces  of  the  old  European  life  and 
religion  have  been  found,2  as  at  Kakortok  and  elsewhere 
in  the  latitude  of  60° — 60°  55' ;  and  the  existence  of  these 
well-built  stone  churches  certainly  confirms  the  Saga's 
references  to  possible  missionary  efforts  of  the  Greenland 
priesthood  in  Vinland.  But  in  the  island  of  Kingiktorsoak, 
to  the  north-west  of  Disco,  and  in  north  latitude  72°  55', 
west  longitude  56°  5',  there  is  a  more  specific  evidence 
of  the  ultimate  American  direction  of  the  more  daring 
Scandinavian  keels.  Here,  on  this  barren  islet  at  the 
entrance    of    Baffin's    Bay,    an   inscription    in    runes,    dis- 

1  So  Adam  of  Bremen,  iii.  11  (ch. 
127  and  Appendix). 

2  Among  the  chief  remains  of  ancient 
settlement  in  Greenland  are  (1)  At 
Kakortok  or  Karkortok,  on  Igalikko 
Fiord,  N.  Lat.  60°  50',  W.  Long. 
Greemv.  44°  37',  near  the  settlement 
of  Juliana  Hope  ;  here  the  ruined 
church  measures  51  feet  by  25,  with 
its  stone  walls,  4  feet  thick,  rising  to 
heights  of  16  and  18  feet.  Two 
round  arched  windows,  four  windows 
not  arched,  and  two  doorways,  can 
still  be  traced.     (2)  At  the  extremity 


of  Igalikko  Fiord,  N.  Lat.  60°  55' 
the  foundations  of  a  building,  pro- 
bably a  church,  have  been  discovered 
(in  1830) ;  these  foundations  measured 
96  feet  by  48  ;  here  was  also  a  Runic 
inscription  in  memory  of  one  Vigdis, 
a  woman.  (3)  Foundations  of  build- 
ings 120  feet  by  100,  apparently  the 
base  of  rows  of  dwellings  ;  founda- 
tions of  single  houses  ;  and  sepulchral 
slabs,  have  also  been  brought  to  light 
in  and  about  Lat.  N.  60\  Cf.  Laing 
and  Anderson,  Prelim.  Dissert.,  pp. 
188-190. 


72  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Oh. 

covered  in   1824,  tells  Low  '  Erling  Sigvatson  and   Biarne 

Thordarson    and   Eindrid    Oddson,  in   the    Saturday  before 

Ascension  Week,  raised   these    marks  and  cleared  ground, 

in  the  year  of  Christ  1135.'     Now,  unless  we  can  assume 

an   entire  change  of  climate,  the  sea  in  the  neighbourhood 

of  this  island  could  not  be  navigated  at  any  time  in   the 

early  summer  within  which  Ascension  Day  must  fall ;  and 

the   inscription    in    this    case   would    show    that   the    men 

who    raised    the    marks    and    cleared    the   ground    had    also 

wintered  there. 

Besides    these    references    to,    or    evidences    of,    later 

movements  towards  the  American  strand,  we  have  a  little 

group  of  stories,  variously  understood  as  bearing  on  Vinland, 

on    the    far   south   of    North   America,    or   on    the    Canary 

Islands.     Thus  from   a  certain  Rafn,  a  trader  to  Limerick, 

his   great-great-grandson,   Are    Frode,1    derived   a    tradition 

which   described  how,  about    the  year  of    Christ    983,    one 

Are  Marson,  of  Iieykianess  in  Iceland,  was  driven  by  storms 

out  into  the  Western  Sea,  and  came  at  last  to  a  country 

vhich    he    called  White    Man's    Land,  and   others   termed 

Great  Ireland.     Thither  he  was  followed  in  999  by  Biarne 

Asbrandson,  and  in  1029  by  Gudleif  Gudlangson,  surnamed 

'  the  wealthy,'  a  settler  at  Stream  Firth  in   Iceland,  and  a 

great  sea-farer,  who  owned  a  large  trading  ship.     This  Ireland 

the    Great  —  which    men    said    was    originally    peopled    by 

Christians  from  Ireland — 'lay  westward,  in  the  Main,  near 

1  Are,  the  Learned,  '  the  first  man 
in  Iceland  who  wrote  down  in  the 
Norse  tongue  both  old  and  new 
narratives  of  events,'  c.  A.D.  1067- 
1147(8).  He  wrote  '  240  years  after 
the  first  settlement  of  Iceland  by  the 
Norsem3iv  e.  a.d.  1117;  but  early 
writer  as  he  was,  another  preceded 
him,  viz.  Isleif,  the  first  bishop  of 
Iceland    (appointed   by   Adalbert    of 


Bremen,  and  diedc.  1047),  who  com- 
piled Histories  of  the  Norse  kings, 
from  Harald  Fairhair  to  Magnus  the 
Good.  Are's  contemporary  Saemund 
(a.d.  1056-1133)  was  the  author  of 
similar  works.  On  the  story  of  Are 
Marson,  see  Landnamabok,  ch.  xxii. 
Rafn  was  distantly  related  both  to 
Are  Marson  and  Leif  Ericson, 
Landnama,  Part  II.,  ch.  xxi. 


II]  WHITE    MAN'S    LAND    AND    GREAT    IRELAND  73 

Vinland  the  Good,  and  it  was  called  six  days'  voyage  west- 
ward from  Ireland  thereto.'  Are  Marson  was  not  able  to 
leave  that  land,  as  he  desired,  but  was  forced  to  stay,  '  and 
there,  being  among  Christians,  he  was  baptized,  and  held  in 
honour.'  Bafn,  of  Limerick,  was  the  first  who  told  of 
this ;  but  a  certain  Thorkel  Gelleson  also  had  somewhat 
to  relate  about  the  same.  For  certain  Icelanders  told  him 
that  they  had  heard  from  Thorfinn,1  Earl  of  the  Orkneys, 
how  the  aforesaid  Are  Marson  had  been  recognised  by 
some  of  their  countrymen  in  White  Alan's  Land,  and  how 
he  had  sent  back  a  token  by  which  his  friends  knew  that 
it  was  he  indeed. 

Of  the  discovery  of  Gudleif  Gudlaugson  the  Eyrbgggia 
Saga  gives  a  more  or  less  detailed  account.  Towards  the 
end  of  the  reign  of  St.  Olaf  (c,  a.d.  1030),  Gudleif  went  to 
Dublin,  on  a  trading  voyage  from  Iceland  to  Ireland ;  on 
his  return  he  sailed  round  Ireland  by  the  west,  and  was 
overtaken  by  a  heavy  storm  from  the  east  and  north-east, 
which  drove  him  far  out  to  sea  in  a  south-westerly 
direction.  Neither  he  nor  any  of  his  men  knew  where 
they  were,  and  they  drove  about  in  the  Ocean  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  summer  before  they  came  to  land.  Here 
they  were  seized  by  the  natives,  who  came  in  crowds  to 
the  vessel,  and  spoke  a  language  which  none  of  the  Norse- 
men understood,  but  which  some  thought  a  little  like  Irish. 
The  visitors  observed  that  their  captors  were  disputing 
whether  to  make  slaves  of  them  or  to  put  them  to  death. 
But  meantime  a  grand  old  man,  of  majestic  presence,  with 
white  hair,  came  riding  along,  and  all  the  natives  received 
him  with  the  greatest  respect.  He  accosted  the  Icelanders 
in  the  Norse  language,  and  asked  if  Snorre,  one  of  the  chief 
persons  in  Iceland,  was  still  alive,  and  his  sister  Thurid. 
1  Probably  the  great  Earl  Thorfinn  II.  (+1064)  see  p.  95. 


74  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Ch. 

He  would  not  tell  his  name,  and  advised  the  strangers  not 
to  come  there  again,  as  the  inhabitants  were  fierce  and 
inhospitable,  and  the  land  had  no  good  harbours.  He  gave 
them  a  gold  ring  to  give  to  Thurid,  whom  he  loved  much 
better  than  Snorre,  her  brother,  and  a  sword  for  Thurid's 
son.  Gudleif  brought  these  back  to  Dublin,  and  the  next 
summer  home  to  Iceland,  and  it  was  thought  that  this 
friend  in  distress  was  a  certain  Biorn,1  a  skald  and 
warrior  much  respected,  who  had  left  Iceland  in  a  ship 
about  998,  and  had  been  lost  sight  of  since.  He  had  been 
in  love  with  Thurid,  and  was  therefore  persecuted  by  her 
family,  and  especially  by  her  brother  and  her  husband ; 
and  this,  concludes  the  story,  was  the  '  whole  truth  known 
concerning  Biorn.' 2 

It  was  in  1697  that  Peringskjold  published  the  first 
edition  of  the  Heimskringla,  with  Swedish  and  Latin  trans- 
lations of  the  original  Icelandic.  The  manuscripts  he  used 
are  not  now  extant,  but  they  were  merely  transcripts  of 
other  manuscripts  which  we  still  possess.3  In  1777  Scheming 
commenced  a  new  issue,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Danish 
government,  from  the  collation  of  three  manuscripts  and 
from  Peringskj old's  edition.4  The  eight  chapters  which 
contain  the  main  Vinland  narrative  are  often  supposed  to 
be  an  interpolation  in  one  of  the  manuscripts  used  by  the 
first  editor.     They  do  not  occur  in  the  three  extant  manu- 

1  Biorn    Breiclvikinga   Kappa,    the   ,    Tryggveson   in  a  swimming  contest 
'champion  of  the  Broad  vikings,'  who      in  the  Nicl. 

first   won  himself  a  great  name   in  ;        3  See  Tor  fa,exis,Historia  Vinland iae 

Baltic    Viking    warfare.       Here    he  ;    Antiquac. 

joined  the   men   of    Jomsborg  ;     cf.  4  In  six  volumes  folio.    The  mami- 

Eyrhyggia  Saga,  chapters  xlvii.  and  scripts    were    those    in     the    Arne 

lxiv.  Magnaeus    collection.     This    edition 

2  Thurid's  son  (by  Biorn,  as  com-  was     finished     by     Thorlacius     and 
monly    supposed)    was    the    famous  Werlauff  in  1826. 

Kiartan  who  tried  strength  with  Olaf 


II.] 


VINLAND    CONTROVERSIES 


75 


scripts  of  the  Heimskringla,  but  they  must  certainly  be 
earlier  than  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  for  they  may 
be  found  verbatim  in  a  Codex1  written  between  1387 
and  1395. 

The  narrative  of  the  Vinland  voyages  has  unfortunately 
next  to  no  confirmation  from  monuments,  but  draws  its 
authority  almost  entirely  from  documents,  of  which  some 
were  committed  to  writing  in  the  latter,  some  in  the  earlier 
years  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  inscribed  rocks,  the 
buildings,  and  the  skeletons,  which  have  been  supposed  to 
witness  to  the  truth  of  the  Saga  on  American  soil,  have  been, 
with  one  exception,  abandoned  as  evidence  by  all  but  en- 
thusiasts. Thus  the  Dighton  Writing  Rock  on  the  Taunton 
River,  near  P>erkley  in  Massachusetts  (in  N.  Lat.  41°  44'), 
once  claimed  as  a  Runic  inscription  recording  the  voyage  of 
Thorfinn  Karlsefne,  is  now  generally  supposed  to  be  of 
Indian  origin,  though  it  has  certainly  been  tampered  with 
in  very  modern  times.2  The  Old  Stone  Mill  at  Newport 
in  Rhode  Island  is  a  still  more  doubtful  relic ;  and  it  seems 
probable  that,  even  if  part  of  the  structure  is  Indian  and 


1  The  Codex  Flateycnsis,  which 
numbers  them  as  chs.  cv.-cxiii.  of 
Olaf  TryggxcsonJ  s  Saga,  the  same 
position  which  they  occupy  in  Per- 
ingskjold's  edition,  and  one  which 
they  could  not  have  held  in  Snorre's 
original  text.  The  Coder  Flateycnsis 
is  not  an  original  work  of  one  author, 
but  a  collection  of  Sagas  transcribed 
from  older  manuscripts.  The  ar- 
rangement is  chronological,  and  the 
various  narratives  are  artificially 
grouped  together  under  the  reign  in 
which  the  several  events  happened, 
even  though  not  otherwise  connected. 
This  most  important  manuscript  is 
so  named  from  the  Island  of  Flatey 


in  Brcidatiord  in  Iceland,  where  it 
was  long  kept.  In  1650  Bishop 
Brynjolf  Sveinson  of  Skalholt 
bought  it  from  the  owner,  Jonas 
Torfason,  for  King  Frederick  III.  of 
Denmark,  who  gave  in  exchange 
perpetual  exemption  from  land-tax 
to  Jonas  for  his  small  estate.  The 
annals  of  the  Codex  Flateycnsis  end 
at  a.d.  1395,  and  they  were  written 
out  by  the  Priest  Magnus  Thorhalson. 
2  Of.  Laing  and  Anderson,  Pre- 
liminary Dissertation,  pp.  214-223. 
These  editors  believe  the  marks  on 
the  Dighton  Rock  are  not  letters  at 
all,  but  scratches  or  primitive  draw- 
ings made  at  various  times. 


76 


THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION 


[Ch. 


only  in  part  due  to  Governor  Benedict  Arnold,1  none  of  it 
can  with  any  certainty  be  attributed  to  the  Norsemen.  The 
Skeleton  in  Armour,  discovered  in  the  early  part  of  the 
present  century  at  Fall  Eiver  in  Massachusetts,  carries  with 
it,  in  spite  of  Longfellow's  poem,  no  decisive  evidence  of 
Norse  origin.  This,  in  fact,  can  only  be  asserted  of  one  such 
monument  or  material  object  west  of  G-reenland — the  rock 
inscription  of  Kingiktorsoak  near  the  entrance  of  Baffin's  Bay.2 
In  examining  the  narratives  we  must  distinguish  between 
the  general  drift,  which  is  credible  enough,  and  the  par- 
ticular details,  which  are  sometimes  consistent  and  historical, 
but  sometimes  the  reverse.  In  other  words,  we  cannot 
doubt  that  the  Norsemen,  as  recorded  in  this  narrative, 
really  discovered  lands  to  the  west  of  Iceland  and  Greenland 
which  must  be  identified  with  parts  of  the  American  Con- 
tinent ;  but  we  may  well  doubt  whether  the  record  of  this 
great  discovery  is  free  from  legendary  and  unhistorical 
admixture.  One  point  of  some  interest  and  importance, 
though  not  expressly  noticed3  in  these  Sagas  as  a  reason 
of  the  explorations,  may  be  brought  to  corroborate  their 
evidence  on  the  general  facts  they  record.  The  scarcity  of 
wood  in  Iceland  and  Greenland  not  improbably  exercised 
an  influence  on  the  search  for  new  lands.  In  the  famous 
Book  of  the  Iceland  settlers,  known  as  the  Landnamaboh, 
it  is  told  as   a  wonderful   thing  that  one  of  the  primitive 


1  Later  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  Of.  Laing  and  Anderson, 
Preliminary  Dissertation,  pp.  226- 
230. 

1  All  these  relics  are  discussed  by 
Torfaeus  and  Arne  Magnaeus,  who 
both  incline  to  fix  Vinland  near  the 
month  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  or  in 
Newfoundland.  Storm  appears  to 
argue  with  greater  force  for  Nova 
Scotia.     See  Studies  on  the  Vinland 


Voyages  in  Memoires  de  la  Societe 
royale  des  Antiquaircs  du  Nord, 
nouvelle  serie,  1888,  pp.  344-346, 
350-357,  etc. 

3  It  is,  however,  in  a  sense  alluded 
to  in  the  story  about  Karlsefne's 
Vinland  Wood,  quoted  below,  and  in 
the  frequent  mention  of  shiploads 
of  wood  brought  from  Norway  and 
the  south  and  west  by  various 
mariners,  traders  and  explorers. 


II. J  YINLAND    CONTROVERSIES  77 

colonists,  named  Avang,  found  '  such  great  plenty  of  wood 
where  he  settled,  that  he  built  himself  a  long-ship  there- 
with ' ;  and  in  another  Saga ]  it  is  mentioned,  with  the  same 
astonishment,  that  the  famous  Hialte  Skeggieson  made  for 
himself  at  his  own  home  a  vessel  so  large  that  he  sailed 
therein  to  Norway.  As  a  rule,  the  men  of  Iceland  and 
Greenland  had  to  get  their  sea-going  vessels  from  the 
forests  of  Scandinavia ;  for  even  in  Iceland  trees  were  rare, 
and  the  drift-wood  on  their  shores  was  an  uncertain 
material  both  in  its  supply  and  durability.  Now,  when 
once  the  wooded  countries  of  Yinland,  Markland,  and 
Helluland  had  been  discovered,  it  was  natural  enough  to 
go  in  quest  of  these  western  lands  from  which  came  so 
much  of  the  precious  jetsam  to  the  northern  coasts  of  the 
Viking  settlements.  Every  explorer  in  the  Flatey  narrative 
loads  his  ship  with  wood ;  it  is  the  first  thing  men  seek 
on  landing  ;  to  the  last  they  are  busied  in  adding  to  their 
stock  of  the  same.  Thorfinn  Karlsefne,  on  his  return  to 
Norway,  even  disposes  of  some  of  this  wood  at  a  high  price  ; 
he  sold,  we  read,  a  piece  of  mosur  or  maple  wood  of  Vinland 
for  a  door  bar  or  a  besom,  and  a  Bremen  merchant  paid 
half  a  mark  of  gold  for  the  same, 

Some  of  the  other  details,  however,  as  given  in  Flatey, 
offer  easy  material  for  criticism  and  objection.  For  instance, 
Leif  and  his  successors  arrive  in  Vinland  in  the  spring,  and 
we  can  hardly  suppose  that  a  later  month  than  June  can 
here  be  understood.  It  would  indeed  be  a  remarkable  land 
which  was  then  producing  grapes,  ripe  or  almost  ripe,  and 
ears  of  wheat.  At  the  same  time  that  the  Norsemen  were 
gathering  these  precocious  fruits,  the  eider  ducks  had  just 
laid  their  eggs  on  the  Stream  Isle,2  which  would  throw  us 
back  to  an  early  date  in  spring. 

1  The  Kristni  Saya.  2  Straum-ey. 


78 


THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Oh. 


The  ducks  and  the  grapes  raise  other  difficulties.  In 
modern  times  the  eider  is  hardly  ever  seen  lower  than  60° 
north  latitude ;  yet  here  we  have  it  in  proximity  to  a 
country  that  in  many  respects  may  be  said  to  answer  to 
New  England,  or  at  least  to  the  south  of  Nova  Scotia. 

Again,  the  whole  story  of  Tyrker  the  German,  tipsy  with 
eating  grapes,  reads  like  the  fiction  of  an  ale-drinker  of 
the  north,  who  knew  no  more  of  wine  than  that  it  was  the 
juice  of  the  grape. 

To  some  the  language  of  the  Saga  about  the  Skraelings 
presents  equal  difficulties,  and  is  no  more  credible  than  its 
suggestions   that   grapes    would   intoxicate    without    vinous 
fermentation,  that  wheat  would  grow  without  being  sown, 
/  and  that  a  corn — or  kiln — barn  could  be  found  in  a   land 

without  dwelling-houses.  The  question  of  these  mysterious 
people  would  seem,  however,  to  belong  to  quite  a  different 
category,  and  to  be  incapable  of  such  hasty  and  con- 
temptuous treatment.  We  must  return  to  this  point  later 
on,  only  expressing  here  our  belief,  first,  that  the  Skraelings 
may  rather  be  identified  with  some  vanished  races  of  North 
American  Indians  (such  as  the  Beothuks  or  the  Micmacs) 
than  with  the  Esquimaux;  and  secondly,  that  some 
of  the  tribes  of  the  latter  race  were  living  in  the  tenth 
and  eleventh  centuries  much  further  to  the  south  than  they 
have  been  found  in  modern  times.  It  is  unfortunately 
obvious,  as  various  critics  have  pointed  out,  that  the  Saga's 
account  of  the  time  occupied  in  sailing  from  land  to  land  in 
the  Vinland  voyages  leads  to  no  satisfactory  result,  for  we 
do  not  know  how  much  was  usually  accomplished  in  the 
'  day'  of  twenty-four  hours.  The  action  of  strong  currents 
from  the  south-west  might  often  make  them  lose  in  one  part 
of  the  '  day '  almost  as  much  as  they  had  gained  in  another. 
Thus  it  is  by  no  means  easy  either  to  estimate  the  exact 


II.]  VINLAND    CONTROVERSIES  79 

value  of  the  Saga's  language  on  this  point1  or  to  calculate 
the  position  of  the  new  discovered  lands  from  such  shadowy 
data. 

Again,  the  descriptions  of  these  new  lands  are  in  many 
cases  equally  vague  and  uncertain.  The  stony  soil,  scattered 
with  fragments  of  slate  and  affording  little  vegetation — this 
applies  equally  to  all  the  coast-line  from  Newfoundland 
northwards ;  and  the  name  of  Helluland  or  Slab-land  would 
suit  almost  any  part  of  Labrador  just  as  well  as  the  Island 
of  Terra  Nova.  Once  more,  the  notice  of  Markland,  level 
and  covered  with  thick  forests,  might  be  written  about 
countless  points  of  the  North  American  shore ;  and  even 
some  of  the  details  which  seem  conclusive  do  not  really  take 
us  much  further.  An  island  with  a  sound  between  it  and 
the  mainland,  a  low  shore  with  white  sandy  cliffs  and 
shallow  water,  a  fiord  or  inlet  of  the  sea,  a  river  running  out 
of  a  lake,  a  bay  between  two  headlands,  these  are  facts 
which  look  promising  at  first  sight,  but  appear  more  and 
more  evasive  when  one  seriously  tries  to  fix  the  position  of 
the  locality.  For  they  are  features  common  to  nearly  all 
sea-coasts,  and  discoverable  everywhere. . 

On  the  other  hand,  more  definite  conceptions  may  be 
drawn  from  the  general  picture  of  the  Norse  settlements  in 
this  region,  of  their  mode  of  life,  and  of  the  natural  products 
which  they  discovered.  Putting  aside  for  the  moment  some 
inconsistent  details  of  the  winter  climate,  obviously 
exaggerated  in  expression,  it  is  clear  that  we  have  to  deal 
with  countries  which  cannot  be  placed  much  further  south 
than  the  latitude  of  41°  North,  or  further  north  than  the 
latitude  of  49°  55',  according'2  to  the  estimate  of  the  shortest 


1  'They  sailed  three   days,'   'two 
days,'  etc. 

2  According  to  the  best  interpreta- 
tion of  the  perplexing  words,  'The  sun 


was  in  the  sky  between  Eyktarstad 
and  Dagmalastad  on  the  shortest  day,' 
lit.,  'The  sun  had  there  Eyktarstad 
and  Dagmalastad  on  the  short  day.' 


i 

( 


80        THE  NORSEMEN  AND  EXPLORATION       [Oh. 

day  given  us  in  the  narrative  of  Leif's  voyage  and  planta- 
tion. On  this  day,  it  is  said,  the  sun  was  above  the  horizon 
in  the  watches  immediately  before  and  after  that  of  mid- 
day. Now  in  Iceland,  on  the  shortest  day,  the  whole  course 
of  the  sun  was  included  in  the  one  mid-day  watch,  which 
began  at  10.30  in  the  morning  and  ended  at  1.30  in  the 
afternoon.  The  preceding  watch  would  begin  at  7.30  in 
the  morning;  the  succeeding  watch  would  end  at  4.30  in 
the  afternoon.  According  to  the  most  natural  reading  of 
the  Saga's  words,  we  must  surely  understand,  not  merely 
that  the  sun  rose  sometime  in  the  earliest  and  set  sometime 
in  the  latest  watch,  but  that  it  was  above  the  horizon 
throughout  these  three  watches.  This  would  give  us  a  day 
of  nine  hours  (7.30  a.m.  to  4.30  p.m.)  and  a  latitude  of 
41°  24'  10",  lying  between  Seaconnet  and  Judith  Points, 
which  form  the  entrance  to  Mount  Hope  Bay  in 
Massachusetts.  This  Bay,  and  its  river  the  Taunton,  corre- 
spond well  with  the  Hop  of  the  Saga  and  its  neighbourhood. 
It  may  or  may  not  be  conceivable  that  the  name  of 
Hop,  given  by  the  Norsemen,  was  preserved  in  native 
tradition,1  and  so  passed  to  the  Puritan  settlers  of  the 
seventeenth  century  ;  if  so,  this  would  be  one  of  the  most 
curious  survivals  in  history ;  but  neither  this  verbal  identifi- 
cation, nor  the  various  local  correspondencies  of  the  Mount 
Hope  Bay  district  with  the  Norse  descriptions,  seem  so 
convincing,  in  reference  to  the  general  position  of  Vinland, 
as  another  detail.  The  Saga  tells  us  with  the  utmost 
distinctness  that  there  was  no 2  frost  in  winter  ;  that  winter 
fodder  was  not3  needed  for  the  cattle ;    that  day  and  night 


1  In  the  form  of  Haup. 

2  Admitting  exaggeration  here,  we 
may  read  'little,'  i.e.  nothing  that 
could  be  named  in  comparison  with 
Iceland  or  Greenland. 


"  '  Would  not  be  needed  as  they 
thought'  may  surely  be  understood 
as  a  positive  statement,  for  we  are 
never  told  afterwards  that  they  were 
wrong  in  their  supposition. 


II.]  VINLAND    CONTROVERSIES  81 

here  were  more  equal  than  in  Iceland  or  (the  extreme 
south  of)  Greenland ;  and  that  wild  vines  grew  in  profusion, 
and  were  such  a  feature  of  the  land,  that  the  Norsemen 
named  it  from  this  very  circumstance.  It  can  hardly  be 
maintained  that  if  these  points  are  thrust  aside,  we  can 
any  longer  attach  definite  value  to  the  narrative,  which 
would  then  become,  at  the  best,  an  account  of  a  true  dis- 
covery recorded  in  an  entirely  mythical  form.  And  if  these 
details  are  accepted  it  seems  useless  to  talk  any  longer  of 
looking  for  Vinland  to  the  north  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  where 
a  winter  fully  as  severe  as  that  of  Iceland  prevails.  In 
other  words,  we  are  absolutely  compelled,  either  to  reject 
the  whole  body  of  the  narrative,  allowing  truth  only  to  a 
general  fact  which  the  particulars  have  utterly  distorted ; 
or  else  to  seek  our  Vinland  at  least  as  far  south  as  Southern 
Nova  Scotia,  where  the  northern  limit  of  the  wild  vine  is 
to  be  found.  The  exact  place  matters  little ;  claimants  as 
good  as  Mount  Hope  Bay  may  be  found  to  the  north,  and 
have  this  advantage,  that  here,  as  in  Nova  Scotia,  it  is  more 
possible  to  bring  together  in  one  locality  the  wild  vines  of 
Vinland  and  the  skin-canoes  of  the  Skraelings,  the  self-sown 
wheat  of  the  fields,  and  the  sables,  grey  skins,  and  white  furs 
of  the  forest  animals.  What  we  are  concerned  with  is  the 
impossibility  of  a  far  northern  locality,  so  often  and  so 
confidently  assumed,  for  the  site  of  Leif's  Booths  and 
Thorfinn's  Colony. 

A  word  more  on  the  question  of  the  Skraelings.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  the  terror  of  these  folk  at  the  bellowing 
of  Karlsefne's  bull  belongs  to  the  emotions  of  an  island 
people  who  had  never  seen  such  an  animal  before ;  whereas 
any  tribe  living  on  the  Continent  would  have  known  the 
bison  or  musk  ox. 

Those   who   support   the    identification   of    these   natives 

F 


82  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Oh. 

with  the  Esquimaux  are  entitled  to  argue  rather  strongly 
from  the  fact  that,  although  now  confined  to  the  far  north, 
it  is  tolerably  certain  that  they  were  once  spread  over  a 
wider  and  more  temperate  area.  From  this,  as  from  many 
other  points  of  view,  it  is  truly  unfortunate  that  the  North 
American  Indians  are  extinct  as  a  race  in  these  regions, 
and  have  left  no  written  records.  Among  collectors  of  their 
traditions  it  is  often  said  that  these  same  Indians  were  once 
acquainted  with  the  Esquimaux  as  near  neighbours,  and 
regarded  them  with  exactly  the  same  feelings  of  dread  as 
the  Norsemen,  Danes  and  Swedes  felt  for  the  wizard  and 
dwarfish  Finns  and  Lapps  of  the  North  of  Europe. 

From  the  details  given  in  the  Saga  about  the  skin-boats 
of  the  savages  and  other  matters,  the  same  school  derives 
still  more  confidence.  We  have  here,  they  say,  a  simple 
choice.  In  other  words,  we  must  either  take  the  Skraelings 
of  the  narrative  to  be  Esquimaux,  or  we  must  look  upon 
the  whole  description  here  given  of  these  strange  people  as 
untrustworthy  and  beyond  verification.  As  to  one  reference 
we  may  be  positive.  Unquestionably  the  ugly,  sallow,  large- 
eyed,  broad-cheeked,  shock-headed  natives,  who  came  in 
skin-canoes  to  reconnoitre,  and  then  advanced  to  trade, 
and  finally  to  fight,  with  Thorfinn's  men,  were  Esquimaux 
and  nothing  else. 

Again,  as  to  the  insular  ignorance  of  this  people,  who  had 
never  seen  cattle,  and  who  seemed  so  dwarfish  to  the  North- 
men, what  better  terms  could  be  chosen  to  draw  a  life-like 
picture  of  the  Esquimaux  ?  Some  additional  support  is 
given  to  this  theory  by  the  tradition  which  Are  Frode 
professed  to  give  from  the  recollections  of  Thorkell  Gelleson 
of  Helgafell  (c.  a.d.  1050-1150)  who  knew  Greenland  well, 
and  had  spoken  with  one  of  Red  Eric's  original  comrades. 
The  Norse  colonists,  according  to  Thorkell,  found  in  Green- 


H.J  THE    SKRAELINGS  ;    THEIR    IDENTITY  83 

land  traces  of  human  dwellings,  fragments  of  boats,  and 
stone  implements,  from  which  '  one  might  guess  that  people 
of  the  kind  formerly  inhabiting  Vinland,  and  known  among 
the  Greenlanders  as  Skraelings,  must  have  passed  there.' l 

But  the  matter  is  not  so  easy  of  settlement.  The  words 
preserved  from  the  speech  of  the  Skraeling  boys  taken  in 
Markland  are  entirely  inconsistent  with  the  tongue  of  the 
Esquimaux,  but  agree  somewhat  better  with  the  relics  pre- 
served of  the  Micmac  and  Beothuk  languages  spoken  by 
savages  whom  the  sixteenth-century  explorers  discovered  in 
Newfoundland,  Nova  Scotia,  and  New  Brunswick.  The 
Saga's  picture  of  the  physical  characteristics  of  the  Skraelings, 
of  their  skin-canoes  and  cave  (or  boat)  dwellings,  would  suit 
the  Beothuks  or  Micmacs  quite  as  closely  as  the  Esquimaux, 
to  judge  from  the  descriptions  of  the  former  that  have  been 
collected.  While  the  fierce  and  treacherous  nature  of  the 
enemies  of  Thorvald  Ericson  and  Thorfinn  Karlsefne,  and 
their  eagerness  to  trade  in  skins  and  furs,  seem  almost 
decisive  against  the  exclusive  Esquimaux  theory.  May  it 
not  be  possible  to  hold  that  the  Icelandic  records  here 
contain  references  to  both  the  races  whose  respective  claims 
to  be  the  true  and  only  Skraelings  have  been  so  vigorously 
set  in  opposition.2 


1  Cf.  Are  Frode's  still  extant  Libel- 
his  Islandorum  ;  and  Storm,  Studies 
mi  Vinland  Voyages,  pp.  315,  316. 

2  Undoubtedly  the  Skraelings  of 
Greenland  were  Esquimaux.  But  the 
Norsemen  probably  applied  the  name 
without  much  discrimination  to  very 
dissimilar  natives  of  the  new-found 
western  lands  'over  against'  Green- 
land. The  word  Skraelings  was  used 
in  the  Sagas  for  decrepit  people,  of 
low  physique  and  culture.  On  the 
skin-boats,  also  called  ships,  and 
said  to  be  rowed  with  several  oars, 


the  Saga  obviously  mixes  up  details 
suitable  in  some  cases  to  Esquimaux, 
in  others  to  American  Indians  and 
birch-bark  canoes.  The  'big-eyed' 
appearance  of  the  Skraelings  agrees 
well  with  that  of  the  Micmacs,  as 
described  by  Lescarbot ;  while  the 
narrowing  forehead  of  the  Indians 
gives  the  broad-cheeked  appearance. 
The  '  malicious  look '  does  not  at  all 
suit  the  merry,  bland,  Esquimaux. 
Cf.  Storm,  Studies  on  Vinland  Voy- 
ages, pp.  360-7. 


84  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Ch. 

After  the  fall  of  Olaf  Tryggveson  the  Heimskringla 
leaves  Norway  and  Norwegian  matters,  as  it  has  already  left 
them  more  than  once,  to  follow  the  early  Viking  career  of  a 
future  King.  This  was  Olaf  the  younger,  the  later  St.  Olaf, 
a  son  of  Harald  of  Greenland,  and  the  central  figure  in 
the  conversion  of  Scandinavia.  Around  him  obviously 
gathers  the  main  interest  of  the  narrative  of  the  long  series 
of  Norse  rulers  whom  Snorre  Sturleson  describes ;  only  two 
others  appear  in  the  Eoyal  Sagas  as  comparable  to  him ; — 
Olaf  the  son  of  Tryggve  and  Harald  Hardrada.  These  two 
share  indeed  in  the  first  class  of  Snorre's  heroes,  but  not  in 
the  first  place  with  St.  Olaf.  His  early  adventures,  his  reign 
— officially  described  as  fatal  to  heathendom — his  tragic  end, 
the  malice,  witchcraft,  and  subtlety  of  his  enemies,  the 
miracles  of  his  relics,  these  form  the  largest  canvas  on  which 
the  poet  and  the  annalist  has  exercised  his  skill  throughout 
the  whole  of  the  Sagas. 

The  pre-eminent  position  thus  assigned  to  Olaf  Haraldson 
is  plainly  due  to  Christian  influence.  He  is  first  because 
no  other  place  can  be  given  to  the  Eoyal  Saint,  the 
saviour  of  his  people,  their  guide  within  the  fold  of  the 
Catholic  federation.  Like  St.  Stephen  of  Hungary,  like  St. 
Vladimir  of  Russia,  like  iEthelberht  of  Kent,  Olaf  the  Holy 
begins  the  history  of  his  nation  as  a  Christian,  and  therefore 
as  a  civilised,  state.  What  had  gone  before  Olaf  Tryggveson 
was  glorious  but  unhallowed  ;  the  son  of  Tryggve  had  begun 
the  work  but  had  not  been  able  to  finish ;  and  his  cruelty 
was  so  enormous  that  the  Church  shrank  from  canonising 
such  a  man  of  blood.  But  the  milder  virtues  of  his 
successor,  firm  as  a  king,  gentle  as  a  Christian,  won  the 
homage  of  those  to  whom  the  Catholic  religion  meant  light 
and  heathendom  darkness. 

Judged  by  other  standards,  neither  the  reign  nor  the 


II] 


EARLY    VOYAGES    OF    ST.    OLAF 


85 


person  of  St.  Olaf  were  quite  so  important.  Politically,  his 
figure  is  insignificant  by  the  side  of  his  great  rival,  Cnut  of 
Denmark,  who  ousts  him  from  his  kingdom.  He  can 
scarcely  be  thought  to  equal  the  daring  genius  of  Harakl 
Hardrada.  Still  less  can  an  impartial  judgment  place  him 
alongside  the  first  of  Norsemen,  the  greatest  of  their  states- 
men and  empire  builders.  William  the  Conqueror  or  Eobert 
Guiscard.1 

Geographically,  that  is  in  relation  to  the  side  of  history 
with  which  we  are  here  concerned,  St.  Olaf's  reign  is 
likewise  of  secondary  importance.  It  is  true  we  have  a  fair 
number  of  details,  from  this  period,  of  undoubted  value 
in  the  chronicle  of  northern  travel ;  but  of  these  perhaps 
the  chief  item  is  the  Biarma-land  voyage  of  St.  Olaf's  wizard 
enemy,  Thorir  Hund.  Here  again  the  life  of  Harakl 
Hardrada  offers  us  a  more  representative  figure,  and  a  wider 
outlook  on  the  great  world  beyond  Norway. 

When  he  was  but  twelve  years  old,  young  Olaf  Haraldson, 
like  the  son  of  Tryggve,  started  on  a  Viking  voyage.  First 
he  sailed  to  Sweden  and  Gothland ;  then  to  Finland,2  where 
at  this  early  age  the  future  saint  fought  victoriously  against 
the  wizardry  of  these  dangerous  heathens  ;  then  to  Friesland 
and  England,3  where  the  kingdom  of  Wessex  was  now  in 
its  death-struggle  with  the  Dane.  '  At  that  time  Svein 
Forkbeard  and  his  men  had  gone  wide  over  England,  and 
King  ^Ethelred  had  fled  to  Valland,'  or  Normandy.  Olaf 
took  up  the  cause  of  the  English  and  fought  bravely  for 
iEthelred.     First   he   made    for  London,    which    the   Danes 


1  Or  even  the  more  shadowy 
Rmik,  if  we  look  at  the  future 
importance  of  that  chieftain's  life 
and  work. 

2  Chs.  iv.  to  ix.  of  *S7.  Olaf's  Saga. 

3  Chs.  x.,  xi.  of  same.     When  Olaf 


was  coasting  along  Friesland  he  lay 
off  '  high  Kinnliinside,'  says  the  Saga, 
in  heavy  weather.  Some  have  identi- 
fied this  with  the  Texel,  in  spite  of 
the  epithet  '  high.' 


86 


THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION 


[Ch. 


held ;  and  here  Olaf  and  iEthelred  went  up  the  Thames 
and  made  an  onset  on  the  bridge  across  the  river,  between 
the  city  and  the  cheaping  town  of  Southwark.  Now  this 
bridge  was  so  broad  that  waggons  might  pass  each  other 
thereon ;  and  here  were  castles  and  bulwarks  looking  down 
the  stream :  and  under  the  bridge  were  piles  stuck  into  the 
bottom  of  the  river.  And  when  /Ethelred  could  not  take 
the  bridge,  Olaf,  with  a  great  raft  cunningly  devised,  broke 
it  down,  and  so  won  the  city.  He  had  flake-hurdles  made 
of  willow  twigs  and  green  wood,  and  laid  all  over  his  ships 
sheds  of  wicker-work,  and  underneath  the  sheds  he  planted 
staves  so  thick  and  high  that  it  was  a  good  palisade  to  fight 
from.  So  he  forced  his  way  right  up  under  London  Bridge, 
through  showers  of  missiles,  lashed  cables  round  the  piles 
that  upheld  the  structure,  and  then  rowed  down  stream, 
dragging  the  piles  till  they  were  loosened  from  under  the 
bridge,  and  all  on  top  fell  in.1 

Four  years 2  he  stayed  in  England  after  this  and  won 
battles  for  iEthelred ;  but  when  the  old  King  of  Wessex  died 
he    went    south    over   sea,   apparently    to    Normandy 3    and 


1  Ch.  xii.  of  St.  Olaf's  Saga. 

2  Seemingly  four ;  though  the  Saga 
says  '  three '  cf.  eh.  xiii.  beginning, 
xv.  beginning,  and  xiv.  end,  of  St. 
Ulafs  Saga. 

3  Chs.  xv.,  xvi.  of  St.  Olafs  Saga. 
In  'Valland,'  he  visited  'Kingnrth,' 
'  Grislapool,'  '  Willianisby,'  'Fettle- 
firth,'  'Seliupool,'  "' Gunvaldsborg,' 
a  'great  and  ancient'  town,  and 
'Charles'  Water.'  In  nearly  all 
these  places,  which  mostly  appear 
hopeless  of  identification,  he  fough 
and  won  battles  against  other  Vik- 
ings,— a  fresh  proof,  if  any  were 
needed,  of  the  universal  activity  of 
his  race  at  this  time.  Ringfirth  and 
its   castle    on    the    heights,    '  where 


Vikings  sat,'  were  perhaps  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Coutar.ces  (?)  or  at 
Mont  St. 'Michel  (?) :  cf.  Dozy,  lie- 
cherches  su?'  I'histoire  .  . .  de  FEspagm, 
edition  of  1881,  ii.  pp.  308-14, 
according  to  which  '  Charles'  Water ' 
is  the  Bay  of  Cadiz.  The  fragments 
of  an  older  redaction  of  St.  Olafs 
Saga  declare  that  at  the  'Karlsar  '  or 
'  Charles'  Water, '  Olaf  found  idola- 
ters, whose  deities,  a  Siren  and  a 
Boar,  he  kdled ;  and  here  he  got  a 
wind  favourable  for  passing  the  Strait, 
but  was  turned  back  by  the  vision. 
Charles,  or  Karl,  is  here  viewed  by 
Doz}T  as  merely  a  Norseman's  version 
of  Hercules  ('the  great  man'),  and 
this  eminent   scholar  contends   with 


II.]  EARLY    VOYAGES    OF    ST.    OLAF  87 

Brittany,  and  the  coasts  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay  and  western 
Spain,  and  after  many  victories  determined  to  sail  on  to 
Norva  Sound  or  Gibraltar  Straits,  and  so  to  Jerusalem.  But 
now  there  came  to  him  in  a  dream  a  man,  noble-looking 
and  well-favoured,  yet  awful,  who  bade  him  give  up  his 
purpose,  and  go  back  to  the  lands  of  his  birthright,  '  for  thou, 
said  he,  shalt  be  a  King  of  Norway  for  time  everlasting.' 

We  may  suppose  that  Olaf  had  now  reached  beyond 
the  Garonne  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay  as  far  as  Cadiz  and  the 
Pillars  of  Hercules  ;  but  after  this  vision  he  turned  back  to 
the  valley  of  the  Loire,  and  ravaged  Poitou  and  Touraine, 
raiding  as  far  as  the  market  town  of  Parthenay,  a  little 
west  of  Poitiers.1  Thence  he  slowly  retraced  his  steps  to 
Normandy.  '  And  now  thirteen  years  had  passed  from  the 
fall  of  Olaf  Tryggveson.  And  in  Normandy  there  were 
then  two  earls,  William  and  Pobert,  Lords  of  Rouen  and 
sons  of  Richard,  who  was  the  grandson  of  William  Long- 
sword,2  who  was  himself  son  of  Rolf  Ganger,  who  won 
Normandy.  And  Emma,  wife  of  /Ethelred,  King  of  the 
English,  was  sister  of  these  earls ;  who  were  akin  to  the 
lords  of  Norway,  and  at  all  times  the  greatest  friends  of 
the  Northmen.  So  Olaf  tarried  the  winter  in  Seine-water, 
and  had  there  a  land  of  peace.' 

Meantime  Cnut  the  Dane  had  won 3  England  from 
iEthelred's  sons  ;  and  these  last  came  to  Rouen,  while  Olaf 


much  skill  and  persuasiveness  for  the 
reality  of  the  tradition  that  as  late 
as  a.d.  1145  a  colossal  statue 
of  Hercules  stood  in  the  Bay  of 
Cadiz  on  a  lofty  pedestal  ;  at  last  it 
was  destroyed  by  the  Moslems,  to 
whom  (e.g.  Masudi)  we  owe  the 
most  exact  description  of  the  marvel 
which  gave  name  to  the  '  Strait  of 
the  Idols  of  Copper.' 

1  See    chs.    xvii.  and  xviii.    of   St. 


Olafs  Saga.  The  appearance  in  the 
vision  was  afterwards  supposed  to 
be  the  spirit  of  Olaf  Tryggveson. 

2  The  Saga  calls  him  Lcng-.<y ear, 
eh.  xix.  of  St.  Olafs  Saga. 

:!  Earl  Eric  of  Normandy  was  Ins 
ally  in  the  conquest;  and  died  '  of 
blood  letting  in  England,'  just  as 
he  was  setting  out  on  pilgrimage  to 
Rome.  Ch.  xxiii.  of  St.  Olafs 
Saga. 


88  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Oh. 

was  there,  fresh  from  his  western  voyage.  '  And  they  were 
all  together  that  winter  in  Normandy,  and  agreed  that  Olaf 
should  have  Northumberland  if  they  could  get  England 
from  the  Danes.'  In  the  spring  the  allies  made  a  descent 
upon  England,  but  Cnut's  men  were  too  many  for  them ;  so 
Olaf,  after  winning  a  battle  in  Northumberland,1  sailed  off  to 
Norway,  where  all  the  people  welcomed  him  as  their 
king.2 

The  rest  of  this  long  Saga — though  containing  a  goodly- 
number  of  allusions  to  foreign  lands,  and  especially  to 
Iceland  and  Greenland,  the  Orkneys  and  Shetlands,  the 
north  of  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Russia — has  little  direct 
bearing  on  exploration,  travel,  or  war,  in  distant  parts. 
Thorir  Hund's  Biartna-land  or  White  Sea  journey  is  the 
chief  glimpse  afforded  us  of  the  outer  world  within  this 
period ; 3  and  the  story  of  this  is  as  follows.  One  winter 
(probably  of  the  year  1023  or  1024)  Olaf  sent  a  trusty 
servant  of  his  to  the  north.  This  servant  was  Karli  of 
Halogaland,  the  most  northerly  province  of  Norway  proper, 
to  which  iElfred's  Ohthere  also  belonged.  Karli  had  more 
to  do  than  collect  the  King's  moneys  and  leave  his  messages 
in  the  uplands  of  Norway ;  he  was  to  sail  right  away  north 
to  the  White  Sea  and  the  Dvina.  It  was  before  all  a  com- 
mercial venture ;  the  King  and  Karli  joined  in  fitting  out 
a  ship,  and  each  was  to  have  one  half  of  the  profits.  So 
Karli  steered  north  to  Halogaland  early  in  the  spring  with 
Gunstein  his  brother,  and  coasted  up  to  Finmark.     Going 


1  The  raid  was  at  '  Youngford, '  the 
battle  at  '  Wald '  ;  ch.  xxvi.  of  St. 
Olaf's  Saga. 

2  Chs.  xxvi.,  xxvii.,  xxviii., 
xxxvi.  of  St.  Olaf's  Saxja.  We  may 
notice  in  ch.  xxxii.  the  Cordovan 
boots  and  hose  which  King  Sigurd 
Sow  wore  at  his  meeting  with  Olaf— 


a  trace  of  the  early  intercourse  of  the 
Northmen  with  Southern  Spain.  Cf. 
Dozy,  Rccherches  sur  Vhistoire  ale 
la  Mttirature  de  I'Espagne  pendant 
lemoyenage,  third  edition,  1881,  vol. 
II.  pp.  250-871. 

:J  1015-1030.     See  ch.  cxliii.  of  St. 
Olaf's  Saga. 


II]  THORIR    HUND    IN    THE    WHITE    SEA  89 

thus,  they  passed  close  by  the  home  of  Thorir  Hund  of 
Birch-Isle,1  who  had  a  blood-feud  to  settle  with  Karli. 
Thorir  accordingly  sent  messages  of  the  friendliest  kind  to 
the  passing  ship,  saying  that  he  also  was  minded  to  fare 
that  summer  to  Biarma-land  in  their  company  and  share 
evenly  in  all  winnings.  So  Karli  and  his  brother  bade 
him  join  them  with  a  force  of  the  same  strength  as  they 
had  (five-and-twenty  men),  but  he  brought  a  huge  buss, 
manned  with  his  own  house-carles,  nearly  eighty  in  number. 
Then  Gunstein  became  suspicious  and  would  have  turned 
back,  but  Karli  persisted,  only  remonstrating  with  Thorir 
about  his  vessel  and  its  crew.  But  Thorir  declared  in 
such  a  venturous  voyage  one  could  not  have  too  many 
good  men. 

All  the  summer  they  sailed  on  in  company,  sometimes 
one  ship  being  ahead  and  sometimes  the  other,  along 
Finmark  and  round  the  North  Cape  and  past  the  Murman 
Coast  of  Lapland  and  over  the  White  Sea  to  Biarma-land, 
where  they  found  a  good  market ;  at  this  '  cheaping  stead ' 
Thorir  got  some  grey  wares  and  beaver-skins  and  sables. 
and  Karli,  with  his  well-filled  purse,  bought  many  peltries. 
When  the  bartering  was  over  they  turned  their  prows  for 
home  and  sailed  down  the  river  Dvina.  For  all  the  traffic 
was  at  a  place  some  way  from  the  mouth  of  the  stream, 
probably  near  the  later  Kholmogori,  so  famous  in  the  time 
of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  Tsar  Ivan  IV.,  of  Chancellor  and 
Jenkinson  and  Burrough.  While  business  lasted  there  had 
been,  as  usual,  a  '  peace  with  the  folk  of  the  land ' ;  but 
now  this  was  proclaimed  to  be  at  an  end,  and,  for  any  more 
profit,  plunder  was  needed.  So  when  they  came  out  to  the 
sea,  the  crews  met  together,  and  Thorir  asked  if  any  one 
was  willing  to  go  on  land  and  gain  wealth  for  himself ; 
1  '  Biark-ey.' 


90  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Oh. 

for  wealth  there  was  to  be  had,  buried  in  the  woods,  or 
under  mounds,  '  according  to  the  wont  of  that  land.'  Thorir 
was  well  acquainted  with  the  grave  hoards  and  other  buried 
treasures  of  the  Biarma-men ;  probably  he  had  often  made 
the  White  Sea  voyage  before.  And  all  said  they  would 
venture  if  wealth  was  to  be  looked  for.  Thorir  bade  them 
prepare  to  start  at  night ;  they  left  a  few  men  behind  to 
guard  the  ships,  and  the  rest  went  on  land  and  set 
out. 

'  At  first  there  were  ilat  fields  and  then  a  thick  wood- 
land.' Thorir  went  ahead,  and  ordered  his  followers  to 
move  on  silently,  barking  the  trees  to  show  the  way  back. 
At  last  they  came  out  into  a  great  clearing  in  the  wood ; 
and  in  the  clearing  was  a  treasure-mound  with  a  high 
palisade  and  a  door  securely  fastened.  But  Thorir  had 
timed  it  well ;  one  watch  had  just  gone  home,  and  the  next 
had  not  yet  arrived.  The  Norse  leader  hastened  up  to  the 
fence,  and,  hooking  his  axe  on  the  top,  hauled  himself  over, 
hand  over  hand,  and  opened  the  door  from  within.  He 
warned  his  men  only  to  dig  up  the  gold  and  silver,  '  for 
here  also  stands  Iomala  the  God  of  the  Biarma-men,  and 
let  none  dare  to  rob  him.'  But  when  they  had  loaded 
themselves  with  booty,  Thorir  turned  back  to  Iomala, 
and  took  a  silver  bowl  which  stood  in  his  lap,  full  of  silver 
pennies,  and  poured  them  into  his  cloak,  while  upon  his  arm 
he  slipped  a  bow  which  was  over  the  bowl. 

By  that  time  all  the  men  had  got  out  through  the 
faggot  fence,  and  became  aware  that  Thorir  had  stayed 
behind.  So  Karli  turned  back  to  look  for  him,  and  they 
met  inside  the  gate,  and  Karli  saw  that  Thorir  had  got  the 
silver  bowl.  Then  Karli  himself  ran  into  Iomala,  and  saw 
that  a  thick  collar  was  about  his  neck  ;  with  his  axe  he 
smote  asunder  the  string  at  the  back  of  the  neck  and  took 


II.]  THORIR    HUND    IN    THE    WHITE    SEA  91 

the  collar  ;  but  the  stroke  was  so  mighty  that  Iomala's  head 
fell  off,  and  a  marvellous  crash  was  heard. 

'  And  straightway  when  that  befell,  the  warders  came 
forth  into  the  clearing  and  blew  their  horns ;  and  now 
trumpets  were  heard  on  every  side.  So  the  Northmen 
rushed  into  the  wood,  but  behind  they  heard  constant 
whooping  and  crying,  for  the  Biarma-men  had  come.'  They 
were  lost  but  for  Thorir.  He  had  guided  them  to  the 
place,  and  now  he  guarded  the  rear,  guarded  it  above  all 
with  his  wondrous  witchery.  Before  him  walked  two 
men  carrying  a  great  bag,  'and  what  was  therein  seemed 
most  like  to  ashes.'  And  Thorir  dipped  his  hand  in  it,  and 
sowed  it  about  their  path,  and  at  times  he  cast  it  forth 
over  his  company,  making  them  invisible. 

'  Thus  they  fared  out  of  the  wood  and  into  the  open 
fields,  while  the  Biarma-men  rushed  after  them,  behind  and 
on  both  sides,  crying  and  yelling ;  yet  saw  they  never  the 
Norsemen  and  their  weapons  came  not  near.  At  the  ships 
Karli  and  his  people  went  first  aboard,  and  cast  off  into 
the  main ' ;  then  Thorir  too  sailed  across  the  White  Sea.1 

The  nights  were  still  bright  (it  was  the  time  of  the 
white  nights  of  midsummer),  and  the  Northmen  sailed 
the  whole  '  day '  and  every  day  (of  four-and-twenty  hours) 
till  they  came  one  evening  to  certain  islands.  There  they 
struck  sail  and  cast  anchor,  waiting  for  the  ebb,  as  there 
was  a  strong  current  before  them.  And  Thorir  called  upon 
Karli  to  deliver  up  the  collar  of  the  idol  Iomala,  '  for  then 
ye  had  to  thank  me,'  said  he,  '  for  your  lives ;  and  thou, 
Karli,  didst  run  us  into  the  greatest  peril.'  But  Karli 
replied  that  the  collar  was  King  Olaf's.  '  Thereafter  Karli 
tried  to  get  away  from  Thorir,  sailing  as  fast  as  he  might ; 
but  he  could  not ;  and  so  they  came  both  to  Geirsver.     And 

1  '  Witch-wick.' 


92  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Ch. 

this  is  the  first  place  where  one  who  comes  from  the  North 
may  lie  to  at  a  pier.'  Thorir  lay  up  the  haven  and  Karli 
further  out.  For  the  last  time  Thorir  asked  that  they 
should  share  the  booty ;  and  on  a  final  refusal,  he  killed 
his  rival  and  seized  the  precious  collar ;  he  would  have 
sent  Gunstein  and  all  the  rest  after  Karli,  but  they  escaped 
to  King  Olaf,  abandoning  their  ship  and  its  rich  cargo. 
'  And  thus  Thorir  Hund  became  one  of  the  chief  foes  of 
the  king.' 

The  full  effect  of  this  was  seen  later,  when  Cnut  the 
Great's  ambition  threw  him  across  Olaf's  path,  and  when 
every  element  of  disaffection  in  Norway  gathered  round 
the  claims  of  the  Danish  king.  Meantime  Thorir  remained 
in  his  far  northern  Finmark  home,  carefully  watching 
events  ;  ever  on  his  guard  against  king's  messengers  from 
the  South ;  and  again,  more  than  once  (if  we  may  trust 
some  later  allusions),  going  on  the  White  Sea  voyage, 
buying  reindeer  skins,  and  gaining  a  deeper  knowledge  of 
the  witchcraft  of  the  mysterious  North. 

St.  Olaf's  relations  with  Iceland  are  not  of  special  im- 
portance, but  such  as  they  are,  they  may  be  briefly  noticed. 
For  instance,  one  Sighvat  the  Skald,  whose  father  met 
the  king  while  he  was  on  his  western  Viking  voyage, 
became  a  favourite  poet  of  the  Court.  Both  he  and  his 
father  were  typical  Icelanders  in  their  keenness  for  long 
trading  journeys,1  and  the  king's  favourite  talk  was  with 
old  rovers  (such  as  he  himself  had  once  been)  about  the 
distant  countries  they  had  visited,  such  as  Iceland  and 
Shetland  and  Faroe  and  Orkney ; 2  but  in  spite  of  his 
fondness    for    these   topics   he   did   not   fail   to   lay  heavy 


1  Ch.  xli.  of  St.  Olaf's  Saga. 

2  Ch.  lvi.  of  the  same.  See  also 
chs.  lxix.  end,  lxxi.  Cf.  moreover  in 
chs.  xlv. ,  xlvii.,  the  Saga's  remark  on 


Olaf s  contingent  of  '100  men  in 
Welsh  Helms, '  on  his  ship  the  Karl's 
Head. 


II.]  ST.    OLAF,    ICELAND,    THE    ORKNEYS,    ETC.  93 

dues    upon     Iceland     ships,    and     to     threaten     Icelandic 
independence. 

At  times  St.  Olaf  used  these  distant  islands  as  convenient 
places  of  exile  for  his  foes ;  thus  he  sent  his  rebellious  vassal 
Eoerek  1  to  Leif  Ericson  in  charge  of  Thorarin  the  Icelander, 
'  of  all  men  the  sagest,'  and  a  great  seafarer,  who  had 
been  'long  in  the  Outlands,  and  was  then  dighting  a 
merchant  ship  of  his  own '  for  Iceland.  Greenland  and 
Eric's  Fiord,  however,  he  had  never  visited,  and  indeed  he 
seemed  loath  to  take  so  great  a  voyage ;  reluctantly  yielding 
in  words  to  the  king's  wish,  he  found  in  stormy  weather 
a  good  excuse  for  keeping  to  his  beaten  track,  and  never 
delivered  his  royal  prisoner  to  Leif.       ' 

From  all  this  we  can  better  understand  the  Saga  when 
it  tells  us  how  much  the  king  had  to  do  with  the  western 
colonies  of  the  Northmen,  and  how  steadily  he  aimed  at 
binding  them  more  closely  to  Norway  itself.  His  political 
schemes  were  foiled  in  Iceland,  but  he  completed  the  con- 
version of  that  country;  he  subjugated  the  Orkneys  afresh; 
and  in  all  the  Outlands  he  put  down,  at  least  for  a  time, 
the  eating  of  horse-flesh  aod  the  exposure  of  infants, 
practices  viewed  with  about  equal  horror,  as  decisive 
marks  of  paganism. 

The  history  of  the  Orkneys  during  this  time  offers  the 
same  savage  and  repulsive  aspect  as  before.  Nowhere  did 
the  Viking  nature  degenerate  into  more  aimless  brutality 
than  in  their  settlements  on  the  coasts  and  islands  of 
Northern  Britain.  The  very  names  are  significant.  Eric 
Blood-axe,  Thorfinn  Skull-cleaver,  Ottar  the  Swart,  Eyvind 


1  Otherwise  'Roderie'  or  'Rurik,' 
an  'under-king,'  afterwards  famous  as 
the  only  sovereign  buried  in  Iceland, 
whom  Olaf  had  blinded  ;  in  revenge 


Olaf  in  church  ;  felt  that  the  saint 
had  no  armour  on ;  and  aimed  a 
dagger-stab  at  his  heart,  narrowly 
missing  his  prey.  Chs.  lxxxv.,  lxxxvi. 


the  victim  watched  his  time  ;  sat  by    |    of  St.  Olafs  Saga. 


94 


THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION 


[Oh. 


Urochs-horn,  Einar  Wry-mouth,  these  are  among  the 
most  prominent  personages  in  the  endless  squabbles  of 
kites  and  crows  which  till  the  chronicle  of  the  Norse 
Earldoms  in  Caithness,  the  Hebrides,  the  Orkneys,  and  the 
Shetlands.  Before  Harald  Fairhair  the  Orkneys  were 
but  a  Viking  lair ; 1  in  his  days  they  were  '  builded,'  that 
is,  reduced  to  order  and  made  prosperous,  according  to  the 
cheerful  optimism  of  the  Heimskringla.  In  reality,  they 
remained  almost  as  lawless  and  piratical  as  before ;  their 
dependence  on  Norway  was  vague  and  slight,  and  was 
openly  disavowed  whenever  it  was  found  convenient  to 
do  so  ;  their  efforts  to  extend  Norse  rule  in  Scotland  ended 
at  last  in  complete  failure ;  and,  in  contrast  to  Iceland, 
as  we  have  already  noticed,  they  do  not  seem  to  have 
formed  a  starting-point  (to  any  appreciable  extent)  either 
of  new  exploration  or  of  new  literature.  Here,  about  995, 
Olaf  Tryggveson,  passing  round  these  islands  on  his  way 
home  from  his  early  wanderings, 2  seized  the  reigning  Earl 
Sigurd ;  and,  in  his  usual  hearty  manner,  offered  him 
christening  or  death.  Sigurd's  son,  '  the  Whelp,'  he  took 
with  him  as  a  hostage  to  Norway  ;  but  old  Sigurd,  when 
the  storm  had  passed,  paid  no  more  attention  to  his  over- 
lord, married  the  daughter  of  Malcolm,  King  of  Scots,  and 
busied  himself  with  raiding  in  Ireland.  Just  then  hopes 
of  conquest  were  high  among  the  western  Norsemen — hopes 
that  from  their  Ostman  kingdoms  on  the  east  coast  they 
might  conquer  the  whole  of  Erin;  but  in  1014,  Brian  Boru3 


1  See  chs.  xcix.-cix.,  of  St.  Olafs 
Saga.  On  Norse  travel  to  and  from 
Orkney,  Shetland,  etc.,  cf.  also  Saga 
of  Burnt  Njal,  chs.  ix.,  lxxxiv., 
Ixxxviii.-ix. ,  cli.-iii.,  cliv.-clvi  ;  Eyr- 
iiyggia  Saga,  chs.  i.,  v.,  xxix. ;  EgiVs 
Saga,  chs.  iv.,  xxxiii.,  lxii. ;  Grcttir's 


Saga,    chs.    i.-iii.,    iv.-v.  ;    Laxdale 
Saga,  chs.  iv.,  xi..  li. 

2  Ch.  Hi.  of  Olaf  Tryggveson' s  Saga. 

3  The  Munster-man,  High  King  of 
Ireland.  His  victory  was  won  largely 
by  statesman  dike  alliance  with  the 
Ostmen  of  the  South  and  West. 


II.]      THE  NORSEMEN  IN  THE  ORKNEYS,  FAROES.  ETC.       95 

overthrew  the  invaders  at  the  great  battle  of  Clontarf,  and 
among  them  fell  Sigurd.  His  children  inherited,  not  only 
Orkney,  hut  Caithness  and  Sutherland,  as  fiefs  of  the  King 
of  Scots ;  one  son,  Einar  Wry -mouth,  was  a  famous  raider 
'  about  Ireland  and  Scotland  and  Bretland,'  and  suffered  a 
great  defeat  at  the  hands  of  the  Irish  under  their  King 
Konofogor.1 

Like  a  cuckoo  in  the  nest,  another  and  more  famous  son, 
Thorfinn  Skull-cleaver,  as  descendant  of  the  great  Scot  king 
Malcolm,  devoted  his  restless  energies  and  high  abilities  to 
the  ousting  of  his  brothers  from  their  share  in  the  inheri- 
tance, until  at  last  one  of  the  injured  appealed  to  St.  Olaf. 
The  king  seized  the  chance  to  assert  in  a  more  formal  way 
his  supreme  lordship  in  Orkney  and  Shetland :  but  his  dis- 
astrous struggle  with  Cnut  of  Denmark  again  changed  the  face 
of  things ;  Thorfinn  became  more  powerful  than  of  old,  and 
rose  to  be  the  '  noblest  of  all  Earls  of  the  Islands,'  winning- 
Shetland,  and  Orkney,  and  the  Hebrides,  and  a  great  dominion 
in  Scotland  and  Ireland.  '  From  the  Giant  Isles  to  Dublin/ 
sang  a  skald,  '  each  man  was  counted  Thorfinn's.' 2 

The  Faroe  Islanders,  at  this  time,  also  gave  their  allegiance 
to  the  King  of  Norway ;  and  there  it  was  settled  that  such 
law  and  land-right  should  be  held  as  he  should  frame,  and 
such  tax  paid  as  he  should  settle.  But  in  practice  the 
gathering  of  Norway  dues  and  the  enforcing  of  Norway 
laws  proved  to  be  a  harder  thing.3 


1  Ch.  lxxxvii.  of  St.  Olaf's  Saga. 
It  was  in  the  same  autumn  that 
Eyvind  TJrocks-horn,  a  Norseman 
high  in  favour  with  Olaf,  was 
murdered  by  Einar  on  his  way  back 
to  Norway  from  Ireland.  See  ch. 
ciii.  of  St.  Olaf's  Saga. 

-  Ch.  cix.  of  St.  Olaf's  Saga, 
As     to     Olafa    first     successes,     a 


skald  sang :  '  The  Shetlanders 
grown  leal  now,  To  thee  for  thanes 
are  counted,  Ne'er  yet  was  seen  an 
Yngling  In  East-land  who  beneath 
him  Brake  down  the  Isles  of  West 
Land,'  eh.  cviii.  of  St.  Olaf  s  Saga. 
Harald  Fairhair's  exploits  are  con- 
veniently forgotten. 

3  Ch.  cxxxvi.  of  St.  Olaf's  Saga. 


96  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Oh. 

St.  Olaf's  reign  was  largely  passed  in  a  struggle  against 
three  enemies,  Onut  of  Denmark,  Olaf  of  Sweden,  and  the 
malcontents  of  his  own  country,  led  by  Thorir  Hund  of 
Birch  Isle  and  Harek  of  Thiotta,  In  this  connection  we 
hear  again  of  Holmgarth  or  Novgorod,  and  of  King  Yaro- 
slav.  Olaf  of  Sweden,  resolved  at  all  costs  to  prevent  the 
marriage  of  his  daughter  with  Olaf  of  Norway,  gave  her  to 
the  Russian  Prince ;  and  as  her  jointure  she  had  '  Ladoga l 
and  the  earldom  thereto  appertaining'  (a.d.  1019).  It 
is  now  that  Sweden,  perhaps  the  oldest  of  Scandinavian 
Kingdoms,  begins  to  play  a  larger  part  in  Scandinavian 
history ;  and  the  Heimskringla  stops  to  give  it  a  short 
description,2  telling  us  of  its  '  Gautland '  Bishop  and  his 
1100  Churches,  and  of  Upsala,  with  the  King's  Seat  and 
the  Archbishop's  Chair,  and  the  Hoard  or  Treasury,  and  the 
place  of  the  National  Assembly.  '  For  in  all  matters  the 
Swedes  yield  to  Upsala  law,  and  the  King's  revenue  is 
called  "  Upsala  wealth."  St.  Olaf's  fate  was,  after  all,  to  be 
allied  with  the  House  of  Sweden,  while  its  King  continued 
his  bitterest  foe.  One  Princess  was  snatched  from  him, 
but  he  was  at  last  married  to  another,  a  daughter  of  the 
Swede  King  by  a  Wendish  or  West-Slav  mistress.3  Another 
link  with  Baltic  and  Russian  lands  in  this  same  time  is  the 
story  of  Gudleik — Gudleik  of  Novgorod,  as  he  was  called, 
though  a  Norseman,  from  his  frequent  journeys  and  large 
business  in  the  North-Slav  countries.     King  Olaf,  ever  ready, 

1  Already  mentioned  as  '  Aldeigia-  I  Saga.  Swedish  'public  opinion,' 
borg.'  See  chs.  xcii.,  xcv.  and  was  hotly  in  favour  of  the  alliance 
lxxxviii.  -  xci.    of   St.    Olaf's    Saga.       with  Norway.     For  our  object  their 


Sigh  vat,  ch.  xcii.,  hints  perhaps 
that  Novgorod's  money  was  de- 
cisive : —  'I  learned  of  many  a 
matter   Of    the   good   gold   ward  in 


promise  is  of  interest,  that,  if  Olaf 
the  Swede  gives  his  daughter  to  Olaf 
'the  Thick'  (St.  Olaf),  they  will 
help  him  to  win   Estland,   Finland, 


Garth-realm.   .   .   .'  I   Courland,     Kir  ial  aland,    and    wide 

2  Ch.  lxxvi.  of  St.  Olafs  Saga.  about      the     East     Lands     (Baltic 

a  Ch.  lxxxix.,   xeiv.   of  St.   Olaf's   '   Coasts).     Ch.  lxxxi. 


II.]  OLAF    IN    HALOGALAND  ;    WAR    WITH    CNUT         97 

as  we  have  seen  him  before,  to  do  some  trading  on  his  own 
account,  employed  Gudleik  to  buy  him  things  that  were 
hard  to  get  in  Norway,  choice  clothes  for  robes  of  state,  and 
furs  of  great  price,  and  a  rich  table  service. 

Let  us  now  turn  from  east  to  north.  After  he  had 
been  king  five  years,  Olaf  took  a  journey  to  Halogaland, 
with  the  double  purpose  of  fixing  his  own  power  more 
firmly,  and  of  promoting  the  Christian  Faith  in  those  out- 
lying regions.1  Here  he  stayed  most  of  the  summer,  and 
the  chief  landowners  submitted  outwardly  to  his  power  and 
became  his  men.  All  the  people  of  the  region  '  took 
christening '  also  at  the  king's  order ;  but  after  he  had 
gone  it  was  seen  that  the  new  creed  was  but  skin-deep  in 
Halogaland. 

Olaf  was  now  recalled  to  the  South  by  a  pressing  danger, 
and  the  storm  that  had  long  threatened  from  the  West 
broke  at  last  upon  his  head.  King  Cnut  '  the  Kich,'  '  the 
Ancient,'  or  '  the  Great,'  Lord  of  Denmark  by  inheritance, 
and  of  England  by  conquest,  set  himself  to  realize  the 
full  scope  of  his  ambition — a  Scandinavian  and  Anglo-Saxon 
Empire  of  the  North,  which  should  finally  embrace  all 
lands  possessed  or  settled  by  Danes,  Swedes,  and  Norsemen 
from  Ireland  to  Finland,  from  the  Eyder  to  the  North  Cape 
of  Europe,  and  from  the  Channel  to  Greenland.  The 
Lordship  of  Norway  was  necessary  for  his  plans,  and  he 
had  little  scruple  in  '  craving  the  whole  for  his  own.'  He 
sent  a  splendid  embassy  out  of  England  to  Norway,  and 
'  right  gloriously  was  their  journey  arrayed ' ;  they  argued 
long  with  Olaf  about  their  Mission — how  Cnut's  forefathers 
had  the  realm  in  old  time,  how  the  Scot  kings  in 
Fife  had  become  his  men,  and  so  forth — but  they  could  get 
no  submission,  'lhen  the  war  broke  out;  just  in  time  to 
1  Chs.  ex..  cxi.  of  St.  Olaf  s  Saga. 
c 


98  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Ch. 

save  the  men  of  the  Faroes,  of  Iceland,  and  of  Halogaland 
from  an  open  struggle  with  Olaf.1  For  that  very  spring  a 
ship  had  sailed  from  Norway  to  the  Faroes  with  orders 
which  would  have  been  difficult  to  evade,  for  the  instant 
despatch  of  a  mission  to  Court,  Similar,  but  even  more 
stringent,  demands  had  been  made  upon  Iceland,  demands 
of  absolute  submission,  the  acceptance  of  the  laws  of 
Norway,  and  the  payment  of  thane-tax  and  nose-tax,  '  for 
every  nose  a  penny ' ;  but  the  Icelanders  with  one  accord 
had  refused  all  such  talliages.  Once  more,  Finn  Arnison 
was  despatched  to  Halogaland,  where  he  levied  taxes  and 
fined  Thorir  Hund  for  the  slaying  of  Ivarli  and  the  seizing 
of  goods  that  were  in  his  charge  for  the  king.  But 
Thorir  was  again  too  skilful  for  his  foes ;  he  cheated  Finn 
Arnison  with  a  mere  fraction  of  the  fine,  and  fled  to  Cnut 
with  nearly  all  his  Biarmaland  wealth.2 

Curious  figures  flit  about  the  stage  as  the  crisis  approaches  ; 
Stein  the  Icelander,  who  fared  abroad  in  a  ship  of  his 
own  to  the  western  coast  of  '  Gizki,' 3  was  outlawed  for  a 
murder  and  fled  to  Cnut ;  Thorod,  of  the  same  land,  who 
went  to  gather  taxes  for  Olaf  in  the  border  country  between 
Sweden  and  Norway,  and  afterwards  returned  to  his  Island- 
home  after  a  terrible  adventure  with  a  witch- wife ;  Sighvat 
the  Skald,  who  wandered  from  Norway  to  Eome,  and  from 
Rouen  to  England,  on  a  merchant  voyage  ;  Karl-o'-mere,4 '  one 
of  the  greatest  of  lifters/  who  turned  from  his  Viking  life  to 
become  a  firm  friend  and  servant  of  St.  Olaf,  and  was  killed 

1  Chs.  cxlv. ,  cxlvi.,  cxlviii.,  cxlix.  |  humorous  and  dramatic  incidents  in 
of  St.  Olaf's  Saga.  the  Sagas  ;  ch.   cxlix.   of  St.   Olaf's 

2  Thorir  was  forced  to  hand  over       Saga. 

the  gold   collar  of  Iomala,    but   he  3  An  isle  off  the  Norwegian  coast, 

carried   off  great    treasures    of  grey    I  in  N.  Lat.  62°  30'.     Ch.   cxlviii.   of 

skins    and    beaver.      The    story    of  St.  Olaf's  Saga. 

his  crafty  fencing  with  his  enemies  4  Chs.  cli. ,  clii. ,  cliii.  of  St.  Olaf's 

in  this  difficulty  is  one  of   the  most   |  Saga. 


II.]  ST.    OLAF   IN    RUSSIA  99 

in  the  Faroes,  gathering  in  the  Eoyal  dues.  All  these 
incidents  show  us  the  wide  range  of  Norway's  power  at  this 
time,  and  show  us,  too,  how  feeble  and  uncertain  was  the 
tenure  of  that  power  in  the  saintly  but  impolitic  hands 
from  which  the  rule  of  the  North  was  now  slowly 
passing. 

Cnut's  first  attack  was  indecisive ;  but  in  the  second 
campaign  a  universal  defection,  added  to  the  immense 
armaments  of  the  invader,  threw  Norway  into  the  hands  of 
the  new  '  Emperor  of  the  Arctic,'  and  Olaf  fled,  where  so 
many  Norse  chieftains  had  fled  before,  to  Novgorod.1  Here 
King  Yaroslav  welcomed  him  heartily,  and  offered  him  the 
government  of  Old  Bulgaria  on  the  Volga,  over  which  the 
Eussian  Grand  Prince  now  '2  claimed  dominion.  Here,  in 
the  country  of  the  Modern  Kazan,  the  people  were  not  yet 
Christianised  ;  and  the  exile  thought  well  of  this  offer ;  but 
his  men  were  all  loath  to  follow  him  so  far.  It  was  better, 
they  said,  for  him  to  try  his  fortune  again  in  his  own  king- 
dom before  attempting  anything  more  distant.  It  would 
not  have  been  an  easy  task  to  convert  the  Moslems  of 
'  Bolghar,'  which  had  formed  a  part  of  Islam  from  the  close 
of  the  ninth  century,  and  which  was  never  thoroughly 
conquered  by  the  Eussian  princes  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
though  on  occasion  it  acknowledged  the  vague  suzerainty 
of  some  of  the  most  powerful  East  Slav  rulers.3  For  his 
own  part  St.  Olaf  would  have  preferred  to  go  on  pilgrimage 


1  Clis.  clxxx.,  cxci.  of  the  same, 
a.d.  1020. 

2  Ch.  cxcviii.  of  same  ;  the  '  domin- 
ion called  Volgaria,  which  is  one 
part  of  Garth-realm,  where  the  folk 
was  heathen.' 

3  On  this  Old  Bulgaria  of  the 
Middle  Volga  and  Lower  Kama,  cf. 
pp.  105«.,  292n,,  303,  335,  341-2, 
462-4/t.   of  this  volume  ;    Ibn  Da^ta 


in  Bossier's  llomanische  Studied,  pp. 
359-362,  etc. ;  Saveliev  in  Erman's 
Archie,  vi.  pp.  91 -S  ;  Frahn's  Ibn 
Foslan,  pp.  226,  etc.,  147,  168,  258, 
266  ;  Frahn  in  the  Memoires  de 
VAcademie  de  St.  Pitersbourg,  serie 
vi.  torn.  i.  pp.  183-199  ;  Masudi, 
ii.  15,  ed.  Barbier  de  Meynard  and 
Pavet  de  Courteille. 


100 


THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION 


[Ch. 


right  away  to  '  Jerusalem  world/  and  leave  the  struggles  of 
this  life  to  others ;  but  the  heavenly  powers  themselves 
turned  him  from  this  abdication.  A  vision  of  Olaf  Tryggve- 
son,1  coupled  with  the  persuasion  of  Biorn  the  marshal, 
determined  the  king  to  try  once  more  the  chances  of  a 
restoration ;  and  in  the  face  of  all  dissuasion  from  the 
prudent  Yaroslav,  he  persisted  in  this  resolution.  He 
crossed  the  ice,  made  his  way  to  the  open  Baltic,  and  by  the 
time  of  the  spring  thaws  appeared  in  Sweden. 

Meantime  Thorir  Hund  had  been  prospering  since  his 
return  with  Cnut's  host.  He  had  made  the  Finn-journey 
two  winters  and  been  long  on  the  fells  ;  measureless  wealth 
had  he  won  by  chafferings  with  the  Finns.  Most  notable 
of  all,  he  had  made  for  himself  twelve  coats  of  reindeer  skins 
of  Lapland,  with  such  wizardry,  that  no  weapon  could  bite 
on  them,  '  aye,  less  than  on  ring-mail.'  And  both  he  and 
Harek  of  Thiotta  made  ready  to  fight  against  Olaf  if  he 
should  come  from  the  East.  On  the  other  hand,  some  of 
the  nobles  stood  for  the  old  king,  and  chief  among  the  last 
was  his  young  half-brother,  afterwards  famons  as  Harald 
Hardrada,  but  as  yet  only  a  boy,  fifteen  years  of  age. 

With  Swedish  guides  St.  Olaf  moved  slowly  through  the 
Ironstone  Land  and  Iamtland  to  Norway.  And  as  he 
moved  he  had  a  vision,  the  vision  of  his  race ;  he  saw  over 
Thrandheim  and  all  Norway,  and  '  ever  wider  over  all  the 
world,  both  land  and  sea  ;  those  homesteads  where  he  had 
been,  and  just  as  clearly  those  which  he  had  never  seen,  aye, 
and  those  of  which  he  had  never  heard  tell,  both  peopled 
homesteads  and  unpeopled  wastes,  as  wide  as  is  the  world.' 

The   two   armies  met   at  Stiklestad ;    and  there  Thorir 


1  Cf.  St.  Olafs  Saga,  chs.  cxciv.- 
cxcviii. ,  ccii.-cciii.  The  same  vision 
had  already  turned    him    back  from 


his  early    Viking   life.      See    above, 
p.  87. 


II]  ST.    OLAF'S    FALL  ;    MINOR    TRAVELS  101 

Hund,  with  his  reindeer  skins  and  his  witchcraft,  proved 
too  strong  for  the  king.  So  he  fell  before  the  '  Hound 
whom  steel  would  not  bite ' ;  yet  the  same  man  was  among 
the  first,  after  the  death  of  Christ's  anointed,  to  proclaim 
his  saintship  and  to  attest  his  miracles.  It  was  during 
the  time  of  his  exile  at  Novgorod  that  Olaf  really  laid  aside 
the  ruler  and  became  the  saint ;  and  the  national  feeling  of 
Norway,  outraged  by  the  rule  of  the  Danish  Usurper,  made 
the  victim  of  Stiklestad  a  royal  martyr,  and  the  reverence 
for  his  memory  became  the  emblem  of  patriotism. 

When  St.  Olaf  left  Novgorod  and  the  kingdom  of 
Yaroslav  to  make  another  struggle  for  the  crown,  his  young 
son  Magnus  remained  in  the  care  of  the  Russian  prince;  and 
after  the  battle  of  Stiklestad  his  step-brother  Harald,  the 
future  Hardrada,  sought  a  like  refuge  at  Holmgarth.1  It 
was  not  long  before  one  of  the  royal  martyr's  greatest  foes 
also  came  to  Ladoga  and  Novgorod,  and  swore  allegiance  to 
Magnus  Olafson.  Kalf  Arnison2  had  been  one  of  the  three 
who  cut  down  the  old  king  at  Stiklestad ;  now,  like  the  great 
archer  Einar,3  he  was  in  revolt  against  King  Cnut  and  had  to 
fly  to  Sweden  and  Gardariki.4  Sighvat  the  Skald,  St.  Olaf's 
friend  and  favourite  singer,  was  another  prominent  Norse- 
man on  whom  Magnus  could  count.  He  came  home  soon 
after  the  death  of  his  old  patron,  and,  staying  in  Sweden 
during  Magnus'  exile,  asked  news  of  Olaf's  son  from  all  the 
traders  that  he  met  on  their  way  to  or  from  Novgorod. 
The  distant  wanderings  of  his  race  were  typified  in  Sighvat; 
whose  home  was  in  Iceland  ;  who  had  traded  in  England  and 
Valland;5  who  had  been  to  Rome  on  pilgrimage;  and  who 
heard  of  Olaf's  death  while  he  was  on  his  way  from  the 

1  Novgorod.  4  Russia. 

2  Ch.  ccxl.  of  St.  Olaf  a  Saga.  5  North  and  West  France. 

3  Tharabarskelfir.  I 


102 


THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION 


[Ch. 


South  across  the  Alps.1  Now  he  had  travelled  down  into 
Sweden  with  thoughts  of  a  journey  to  Eussia,  for,  as  he  sang, 
news  from  the  East  was  full  of  the  praises  of  the  young  king 
in  his  exile,  and  even  the  birds  of  passage  spoke  of 
him.2 

Before  many  months  came  a  far  more  decisive  change  of 
fortune ;  for  Cnut  the  Great,  so  long  '  held  in  worship '  by 
all  men  of  the  North,  died  in  England.  But  even  earlier 
than  this  the  Loyalists  were  beginning  to  move  once  more. 
From  Novgorod  to  Ladoga,  from  Ladoga  to  the  Baltic,  and 
across  the  narrow  sea  to  Sweden,  by  the  same  route  that  his 
father  had  gone  on  his  last  journey,  Magnus  Olafson  made  his 
way  back  to  Norway  with  very  different  prospects.  He  was 
welcomed  by  almost  every  class  and  every  district  as 
universally  as  his  father  had  been  rejected.  The  disappear- 
ance of  the  Saint's  rebel  enemies  soon  followed.  Thorir 
Hund,  the  repentant  chief  of  them,  went  on  pilgrimage  to 
Jerusalem, — never,  as  some  said,  to  return  again.  Harek  of 
Thiotta  was  killed  ;  Kalf  Arnison  had  to  fly  the  country  ; 
while  others  became  Vikings  in  the  Western  Seas,  and  long 
plundered  the  coasts  and  isles  of  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  the 
Hebrides.3 

Magnus'  reign  was  a  brilliant  one  for  Norway.  Under 
the  misrule  of  Harald  and  Harthacnut,  the  Great  Cnut's 
work  was  all  undone ;  Norway  was  now  able  to  gain  the 
better  of  Denmark;4  and  St.  Olafs  son  even  made  a  claim 
on  that  realm  of  England,  from  which  Cnut  had  ruled  his 


1  '  On  Alps  by  a  burg  one  morning, 
I  stood  and  thought  of  the  King.' 
Ch.  ix.  of  Magnus  Good's  Saga. 

2  '  h'en  though  there  fly  betwixt 
us  The  smallest  fowls  air-cleaving,  I 
hear  of  the  snjall  king's  son  As  he 
fares  and  my  hopeisholiien.'  Ch.  ix. 
of  Magnus  Saga. 


3  See  chs.  xii.,  xiii.-xv.  of  Magnus 
Saga,  a.d.  1035-1047. 

4  So  far,  at  least,  as  to  force  Har- 
thacnut to  an  agreement  that  who- 
ever outlived  the  other  should  inherit 
his  kingdom.  Under  this  treaty 
Magnus  ruled  Denmark,  1042-1047, 
chs.  vii.,  xix.  of  Magnus  Saga. 


H.J       MAGNUS  GOOD  ;  HARALD  HARDRADA      103 

Empire,  but  which  had  now  passed  back  to"  the  West 
Saxon  House  in  the  person  of  Edward  the  Confessor.  At 
the  peaceful  answer  of  the  English  king,  who  would  offer 
no  resistance,  but  simply  appealed  to  the  common  justice 
of  princes,  Magnus  '  the  Good,'  with  a  sort  of  shame, 
waived  his  demands.  Now  that  England  had  cast  out 
the  race  of  Cnut  there  seemed  no  shadow  of  quarrel;  and 
meantime  there  was  work  enough  in  the  new  dominions  on 
the  Baltic  and  in  wars  with  Wends,1  Courlanders,  and 
Saxons.  What  Magnus  abandoned  was  left  for  a  more 
daring  spirit  and  a  more  grasping  ambition  twenty  years 
later.  That  spirit  and  that  ambition  were  incarnate  in 
Harald  Hardrada.  His  life  is  perhaps  the  most  perfect 
example  of  the  Norse  type,  as  pirate-wanderer,  free  lance, 
and  conquering  king.  William  the  Conqueror,  Cnut  the 
Ancient,  Eobert  Guiscard,  Eoger  of  Sicily,  are  all  in  a 
sense  greater  men  of  the  same  race — greater  as  organisers, 
law-givers,  administrators,  and  masters  of  statecraft.  But 
among  all  the  Scandinavians  there  is  no  rover,  no  ad- 
venturer, like  the  man  who,  after  fighting  in  well-nigh 
every  land  of  Christians,  or  of  the  neighbours  and  enemies 
of  Christendom,  yet  hoped  for  time  to  sail  off  to  the  new- 
found countries  '  under  the  pole,'  and  so  perfect  a  life  of 
unmatched  variety  by  unmatched  discovery.  Fate,  which 
granted  him  many  things,  denied  him  the  chance  of  being 
a  Barentz  or  a  Hudson  of  the  eleventh  century.  He  had 
fought  with  wild  beasts  in  the  Hippodrome  of  Constanti- 

1  See  chs.  xxiv.,  xxv.,  xxvii.  of  i  Here  'the  Wends  fell  as  thick  and 
same.  In  these  campaigns  Magnus  fast  as  if  they  lay  in  wave  drifts,' 
captured  Jomsborg,  the  famous 
stronghold  of  Baltic  Vikings,  which 
the  Dane  kings  had  so  dreaded,  and 
won  a  great  victory  over  his  Slav  and 
Lettish  adversaries  at  Heathby  near  '  ch.  xxix.  of  same. 
Skotborg- Water  on  Lyrshaw  Heath. 


ch.  xxix.  Duke  Otto  of  Brunswick 
'in  Saxland,' son-in-law  of  St.  Olaf, 
was  with  him  in  this  battle.  Certain 
(two)  Iceland  men  were  also  present, 


104       THE  NORSEMEN  AND  EXPLORATION       [Oh. 

nople ;  he  had  bathed  in  the  Jordan  and  cleared  the  Syrian 
roads  of  robbers ;  he  had  stormed  eighty  castles  in  Africa  ; 
he  had  succoured  the  Icelanders  in  famine ;  and  men  knew 
and  feared  him  alike  in  Eussia  and  England.  He  lived  as  a 
prince,  a  conqueror,  or  a  guest,  in  Norway  and  in  Novgorod, 
in  Sicily  and  in  Yorkshire ;  in  his  own  songs  he  boasts  that 
he  had  sailed  round  Europe ;  yet  he  never  led  his  followers 
into  that  unknown  world  where  his  countrymen  had  shown 
the  way.  A  true  forerunner,  in  spirit,  of  those  explorers  who 
have  most  greatly  dared,  he  fell  without  one  discovery. 
Men  of  his  own  nation  and  time  had  been  before  him 
every  where ;  but  he  united  in  himself  the  deeds  and 
the  adventures,  the  conquests  and  the  enterprises,  of  many. 
Never  more  clearly  than  in  him  may  be  recognised  that 
northern  spirit  which  was  the  very  ground  and  impulse 
of  the  movement  of  Europe  towards  the  outer  world,  in 
which  lay,  hidden  yet  certain,  the  future  triumph  of  the 
Christian  nations  over  every  rival. 

To  Snorre  Sturleson,  St.  Olaf  the  Christianiser — the  weak, 
obstinate,  religious  king,  who  thought  it  sin  even  to  cut  chips 
from  a  block  of  wood  on  the  Sunday — is  the  central  figure 
in  his  country's  history.  And  in  a  sense,  for  good  or  for 
evil,  Snorre  was  right.  The  conversion  of  the  Scandinavian 
people  was  indeed  a  turning  point  in  their  history.  They 
ceased  to  be  the  terror,  they  became  the  leaders,  of  the 
Christian  world.  Yet  the  Norse  genius  for  exploration, 
though  not  for  war,  seems  to  decay  with  the  conversion  of 
the  race,  and  the  subtlety  and  craft  that  is  so  marked  in  the 
pagan  Scandinavians  is  often  replaced  by  an  exceptional 
simplicity  and  want  of  foresight  among  the  later  Christian 
types  of  Norse  nationality.  The  fierce  contempt  of  life, 
the  unflinching  pursuit  of  material  gain,  alike  by  strategy 
or  by  force,  never  turned  from  its  object  by  discouragement 


II-]  SCANDINAVIAN    CHARACTEKlSTlCy  105 

or  resistance,  disdaining  no  means  to  reach  the  goal,  never 
more  dangerous  than  when  repulsed,  never  more  watchful 
than  when  reposing,  generous  to  a  fault  with  friends,  but 
implacable  with  foes,  waiting  any  time  for  vengeance,  yet 
never  sacrificing,  for  a  sentimental  vengeance,  solid  gain — 
these  qualities,  which  mark  so  unmistakably  Thorir  Hund  or 
Harald  Hardrada,  Robert  Guiscard  or  William  of  Normandy, 
appear  slowly  to  die  out  in  the  later  generations  of  Christian 
Northmen.  In  truth,  men  like  Gustavus  III.  or  Charles  XII. 
recall  the  prominent  type  of  heathen  Norsemen  far  less  than 
do  some  of  the  empire-builders  of  another  country  where  the 
Scandinavian  blood  had  also  left  its  mark.  Ivan  III.,  the 
'  Collector  of  Russian  land,'  and  Harald  Fairhair,  the  Unifier 
of  Norway  ;  Ivan  IV.  and  Cnut  of  Denmark  ;  Yermak,  the 
Conqueror  of  Siberia,  and  Rolf  the  Conqueror  of  '  Valland,' 
offer  us  parallels  of  no  little  suggestiveness.  In  both  race- 
histories  there  is  a  similar  spirit  at  work,  but  working  on 
very  different  material.  Out  of  a  people  all  composed  of 
adventurers,  it  was  perhaps  harder  to  form  a  perfectly 
unified  state;  leadership  was  more  difficult  where  so  many 
could  dispute  the  lead,  and  where  so  few  were  willing  to 
be  led.  But  on  the  submissive  and  ductile  nature  of  the 
Slav  there  could  be  more  easily  impressed  a  sense  of  sub- 
ordination and  of  discipline,  which  was  not  without  its 
value  as  a  servant  of  high  political  ends. 

Harald  Hardrada  was  wounded  in  the  battle  where  Holy 
Olaf1  fell,  but  he  was  hidden  by  friends,  healed  of  his 
wounds,  and  sent   east   through    Sweden    to    '  Garthrealm.' 

1  See  ch.  i.  of  Harald  Hardrada 's  a  skald  (Bolverk) : — 'But   the  next 

Saga  and  the  verses  : — '  The  Burner  year  east  in  Garthrealm  Ne'er  heard 

of  the  Bulgars  There  well  availed  his  we    of    peace-waster    Waxing    more 

brother,' etc.    As  to  his  life  in  Russia,  famed  than  thou  .  .  .   Until  at  ship's 

the  Saga  says  nothing  more  of  his  bows  Harald  Saw  Miklagarth's  bright 

wars  against  the  (Volga)  Bulgarians  metals.'      'Miklagarth,'    the    'Great 

(ch.  ii.),  except  to  quote  the  lines  of  City,'  is,  of  course,  Constantinople. 


106 


THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION 


[Oh. 


There  he  remained  some  years  with  King  Yaroslav,  and 
'  fared  wide  about  the  East  Ways,'  till  at  last  he  went  on 
to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  service  of  the  Byzantines,  the 
richest  paymasters  of  Mediaeval  Christendom,  to  whose 
banner  so  many  of  Harald's  countrymen  had  already  flocked. 
Zoe  the  Wealthy  then  reigned  at  Constantinople  in  the 
name  of  Constantine  Monomach,  and  employment  was 
at  once  given  to  the  new-comer.  First  he  fought  for  the 
Empire  in  the  '  Greek  Sea,'  and  put  down  the  Corsairs 
that  infested  the  Archipelago  ;  then  he  performed  brilliant 
deeds  in  more  distant  regions.  After  a  time  all  the 
Varangians  of  the  Foreign  Guard  were  put  under  Harald's 
command,  and  he  became  the  trusted  leader  of  the  motley 
host,  a  Norse  general  not  only  over  Norsemen,  but  over 
Slavs,  English,  Germans,  and  men  of  Latin  speech.  But 
he  and  his  mercenaries  claimed  to  be  independent  of  the 
Greek  troops  and  their  officer,  declaring  they  were  '  masters 
of  their  own  matters  and  bound  in  service  only  to  the 
kino.'  i 


1  Cf.  chs.  ii.-iv.  of  Harold  Har- 
drada's  Saga.  As  to  earlier  journeys 
of  Northmen  to  Constantinople,  cf. 
e.g.  (1)  Grettir  the  Strong's  Saga,  chs. 
lxxxviii.  -xcv.,  where  Thorbiorn 
Angle,  after  slaying  Grettir  in  Ice- 
land, goes  abroad  to  Norway  and 
Miklagarth,  in  the  time  of  Michael 
Katalaktos,  when  '  many  Northmen  ' 
were  going  to  Byzantium  and  taking 
'  war-wage '  there.  Like  Thorbiorn 
Angle,  Thorstein  Dromund,  Grettir' s 
avenger,  enters  the  Vaering  Guard, 
wherein  he  discovers  Thorbiorn.  A 
long  story  follows  of  his  intrigues 
with  'the  lady  Spes,'  wife  of  one 
Sigurd,  but  apparently  herself  a 
Greek.  '  In  those  days  Harald 
Sigurdson  (Hardrada)  was  at  Mikla- 
garth.'    Thorstein   and  Spes    go   to 


Norway,  and  finally  on  pilgrimage 
to  Rome.  (2)  Slaying  Stir's  Saga, 
under  a.d.  1008-9,  records  how  Guest 
Thorhallson,  after  a  manslaughter, 
flies  to  Norway  and  Miklagarth, 
where  he  prospers  and  remains. 
Thorstein  Stirson  pursues  but  never 
finds  Guest.  (3)  Laxdale  Saga,  chs. 
lxxii.-iii.,  lxxvii.,  tells  how  Bolli 
Bollison  goes  abroad  into  southern 
lands,  '  for  a  man  he  thought  was 
deemed  benighted  who  learnt  nothing 
further  a-field  than  what  was  to  be 
seen  in  Iceland.'  Bolli  journeys  to 
Norway  and  Denmark,  and  so  to 
Miklagarth,  where  he  stays  many 
winters.  He  enters  the  Vaering 
Guard,  and  is  the  first  Northman  to 
'  take  war- wage  from  the  Greek  King,' 
who   on   parting  with   him  bestows 


If.]        hardrada's  early  travels      107 

United  action  became  impossible,  and  most  of  the 
Byzantines  went  back  to  the  capital ;  while  Harald  and 
his  men  started  to  attack  the  Moslem  lands  of  North  Africa, 
the  richest  country  upon  earth,  as  the  Northmen  believed. 
Here  followed  many  years  of  war  and  plunder  and  ad- 
venture, and  Harald  gained  '  exceeding  much  gold  and 
all  kind  of  precious  goods.'  But  the  whole  of  this 
wealth  which  he  did  not  need  for  his  own  use,  he  sent 
back  to  Novgorod  by  the  hands  of  trusty  men,  and  stored 
it  up  in  the  keeping  of  his  friend  the  Grand  Duke  Yaroslav. 
;  And  after  that  he  went  to  Sicily  and  took  there  various 
Burgs  with  cunning  devices ;  and  then  fared  he  back  to 
Constantinople  with  his  host,  and  arrayed  his  journey  for 
Jerusalem.  All  his  wage-gold  from  the  Greek  king  he  left 
behind,  and  so  did  the  Vaerings  who  went  to  the  Holy 
City  with  him.  Thus  he  came  out  to  Jerusalem-laud,  and 
there  all  towns  and  castles,  aye,  and  all  the  country,  came 
unburnt  and  unwasted  into  the  power  of  Harald.  And  he 
went  to  Jordan  aud  bathed  him  there,  as  is  the  way  of 
Palmers,  and  bestowed  a  great  wealth  on  the  Grave  of  the 
Lord,  and  on  the  Holy  Cross,  and  on  the  other  relics  of 
Jerusalem-land.  Moreover,  he  made  safe  the  road  to 
Jordan,  and  slew  folk  that  plundered  and  wasted 
there.' 1 

But  when  he  came  back  to  Constantinople  he  heard  that 
Magnus  Olafson2  had  become  King  of  Norway  and  Den- 
mark. So  he  'gave  word'  to  the  King  of  the  Greeks  that 
he  would  leave  his  service.     Then  Zoe  charged  Harald  with 

many  splendid  gifts,  clothes   of  fur,    I    Emperor,  and  his  becoming  Captain 
a    scarlet  cape,    a  gilt   saddle,    and 
other  things.  (4)  Burnt  Njal's  Saga, 
ch.    lxxx.,    narrates   the  journey   of 
Kolskegg  through  Russia  to  Mikla- 


of  the  Vaeriug  Guard. 

1  See  chs.  vi.-xii.  of  Harald  Har- 
drada's  Saga. 

2  His   'brother's'  son;    a   mistake 


irth,  his  taking  service  under  the   |    of  the  Saga  for  '  half-brother.' 


108      THE  NORSEMEN  AND  EXPLORATION       [Ch. 

keeping  back  some  of  the  booty  which  belonged  to  the 
emperor ;  and  on  this  charge  the  captain  of  the  Varangian 
Guard  was  thrown  into  prison,  and  put  in  danger  of  his 
life.  But  with  the  aid  of  St.  Olaf,  or  by  his  own  skill  and 
strength,  he  escaped  from  this  peril,  as  from  so  many  others 
before,  and  took  a  savage  vengeance  as  he  tied. 

At  the  head  of  his  men  he  forced  his  way  into  the 
sleeping  chamber  of  the  emperor  and  blinded  him  ; 1  then, 
seizing  the  Princess  Mary — whom  he  had  fruitlessly  wooed, 
and  for  whose  sake  Zoe  had  become  his  enemy — he  sailed 
out  into  the  Bosphorus  with  two  galleys.2  Skilfully  'leap- 
ing '  the  chain  that  guarded  the  entrance,  he  passed  over 
the  Euxine  and  the  Sea  of  Azov,3  and  so  returned,  probably 
by  way  of  Kiev  and  the  Dniepr,  to  Novgorod  and  the  Court 
of  Yaroslav  the  Law-giver. 

Here  he  took  into  his  own  keeping  all  the  treasures 
which  he  had  sent  before  from  the  South,  '  and  in  that 
hoard  was  so  much  wealth  that  no  man  of  the  North  had 
ever  seen  such  in  one  man's  owning.'  For  besides  what 
he  had  won  in  battle,  Harald  had  the  good  fortune  to  earn 
palace  spoil  three  times  in  Constantinople,  and  '  that  is  the 
custom  whereby,  when  the  G-reek  King  died,'  his  Vaering 
Guards  might  go  over  all  the  king's  palace-hoards  and  take 
whatsoever  they  could  carry  off. 

That  winter  Yaroslav  gave  Harald  his  daughter 
Elizabeth ;  and  towards  spring  Hardrada  and  his  wife 
journeyed  from  Novgorod  to  Ladoga,  equipped  a  fleet,  and 
sailed  away  from  the  East.  First  the  adventurers  turned 
aside  into  Sweden,  where  they  met  with  one  Svein,  after- 


1  Chs.  xiii.  and  xiv.  of  Harald 
Hardrada' 's  Saga. 

2  Harald  weighted  his  vessel,  first 
behind,  till  his  prow  was  half  across 
the  chain,  and  then  before,  so  that 


the  galley  fell  forwards  into  the  sea 
on  the  other  side,  the  crew  rushing 
first  to  one  end,  then  to  the  other. 

3  '  Ellipalta,'     chs.     xv. ,    xvi.      of 
Harald  Hardrada's  Saga. 


n.]  haiidrada's  early  travels  109 

wards  famous  as  Svein  Estrithsou  or  Wolfson,1  Kiug  of 
Denmark  (1047-1074).  Harald  and  lie  formed  a  league, 
plundered  Zealand  and  other  coasts  of  Denmark,  and 
threatened  Norway ;  Magnus  in  alarm  called  out  his 
host  against  them ;  but  before  joining  battle  he  offered 
Harald,  as  his  kinsman,  one-half  of  the  kingdom,  and  a 
division  of  all  the  loose  wealth  they  had  between  them. 
The  offer  was  accepted,  and  so  Hardrada  came  home  to 
Norway  as  joint  king.  '  And  to  Magnus  and  his  court  men 
he  gave  wondrous  things  from  the  goods  of  the  Greek  King ' — 
a  mazer  girt  with  silver,  and  a  bowl  of  silver  gilt  filled  with 
silver  pennies,  and  two  gold  rings  that  together  weighed  a 
mark,  and  a  cloak  of  brown  purple  lined  with  white  skins — 
and  other  noble  presents  from  that  land  '  where  men  say 
there  are  houses  full  of  red  gold.' 2 

And  not  long  after  this  Magnus  died,  and  Harald  became 
sole  king.3  We  have  nothing  to  do  here  with  his  wars 
against  Denmark  and  his  old  ally  Svein  Estrithson  ;  but 
his  friendship  with  the  Icelanders  is  another  matter.  For 
'great  are  the  tales  of  King  Harald  that  are  set  forth  in 
those  songs  which  Icelandmen  brought  to  him  or  his  sons, 
so  firm  a  friend  was  he  to  all  the  folk  of  that  land.  Yea, 
once  when  there  was  a  dearth  in  Iceland,  Harald  sent  thither 
four  ships  with  meal,  and  caused  that  meal  to  be  sold  right 
cheap ;  also  he  suffered  the  poor  folk  who  could  get 
victuals  over  sea  to  fare  abroad ;  and  he  sent  to  Iceland 
a  church  bell,'  to  the  same  church  for  which  St.  Olaf  had 
given4    the    wood.      The    king's    Iceland    friends,    Thorleik 

1  See  chs.  xvii. -xviii.  of  Harald  |  from  his  southern  treasures,  though 
Hardrada's  Saga,  and  the  verses  of  !  the  skins  might  be  Russian  or 
Valgard     of     the      Mead  :      'Thou   !    Finnish. 

steer'st   forth    thy   ship,    0   Harald,  |  sa.i>.  1047. 

'Neath  fairest  freight ;    thou  sailest,  |  4  Cf.  eh.  xxxvi.   of  Harald   Har- 

With  bottomless  gold  from  the  east  drada's  Saga.     A   bell  given  by  St. 

land,  From  Holmgarth.'  ...  i  Olaf  to  a   church  in  Iceland  is  also 

2  All  these,  we  may  suppose,  came  '  recorded. 


11.0  THE    NORSEMEN    AND    EXPLORATION  [Ch. 

the  Fair,  Halclor  the  son  of  Snorre,  Wolf  the  son  of  Uspak, 
and  the  rest  left  deeply  printed  on  the  Icelandic  poetry  and 
chronicles  the  tradition  of  Hardrada's  splendid  personality. 
'  Masterful  was  he,  and  given  to  rule,  a  mighty  warrior,  and 
the  boldest  under  weapons,  more  strong  and  deft  in  war 
than  any  other  lMn  ;  and  so  sage  and  cunning  withal  that, 
as  all  men  said,  no  lord  ever  was  in  northern  lands  so  deep- 
witted  or  so  nimble  of  counsel.'  But  all  men  were  not  so 
contented  with  his  reign  of  iron.  Like  the  chief  kings  of 
Norway  before  him,  Harald  set  himself  to  break  down  the 
power  of  the  landowners.  He  cut  off  or  drove  into  exile,  one 
after  another,  all  the  nobles  who  opposed  him  ;  and  the 
landsmen,  says  Hardrada's  own  Saga,1  wanted  nothing  but 
a  leader  to  rise  in  open  revolt  against  him.  Several  of 
the  exiles  fled  to  Svein  Estrithson  in  Denmark,  and  took 
service  with  him  against  the  Vikings  of  the  East  Ways, 
the  Wends,  and  the  Courlanders,  as  well  as  against  Norway  ; 
others  took  refuge  in  England  or  Normandy,2  or  went  on 
Viking  cruises  in  the  Western  Seas. 

One  curious  incident  is  the  intercourse  between  King 
Harald  and  his  nephew  Guthorm  of  Dublin,  who  often 
came  over  to  see  his  uncle,  but  whose  business  was 
freebooting  in  the  West,  where  he  joined  the  Irish  chieftain 
Margath3  in  ravaging  the  coasts  of  Wales,  Cambria,  and 
Cornwall. 

After  a  long4  but  indecisive  struggle  of  seventeen  years 
with  Svein,  Hardrada  made  peace  '  on  these  terms,  that  he 
should  have  Norway  and  Svein  Denmark,  unto  the  land- 
borders  which  of  old  had  been  between  Norway  and 
Denmark' ;    and  it   was  now,  in   the  ensuing  time  of  rest, 

1  Chs.  xxxvi.  xlv.  of  Harald  Har-    I        3  Otherwise  Margad.    Chs.  lvi.,  lvii. 
drada's  Saga,  of  same. 

2  See  chs.  1.,  li.,  liii.-lv.  of  same.  4  1047-1064  A.D. 


II.] 


HARDRADAS    LATER    ENTERPRISES 


111 


that  Harald  seems  to  have  projected  those  Greenland,  Vin- 
land,  and  Polar  journeys  which  made  his  name  famous  in 
the  North  as  that  of  no  other  kin"  had  been.1  But  all  these 
schemes  were  cut  short  by  the  fatal  English  venture  of  1066. 
Here  after  several  triumphs  Harald  failed  and  perished ; 
but  in  falling  he  brought  down  his  foe  with  him.  The  two 
chief  Norsemen  of  the  world  threw  themselves  on  England 
in  the  same  year  and  season  ;  to  crush  the  Northern  invader 
the  South  had  been  left  bare  ;  and  William  of  Normandy 
landed  in  the  same  days  of  early  autumn  which  ended  the 


struggle  in  Yorkshire. 

1  See  Adam  of  Bremen,  GestaPonti- 
ficum  Hammaburgensis  ecclesiae,  iv. 
38(247,Lappenberg).  As  to  the  North- 
men's more  distant  wanderings,  we 
may  notice  : — (1)  About  a.d.  1000, 
Gris  Saeniingson  is  recorded  as  the  first 
Scandinavian  merchant  in  Constanti- 
nople ;  cf.  Antiquites  russes,  ii.  113; 
Heyd,  Covimcrce  du  Levant,  i.  74.  (2) 
Before  the  conversion  of  the  North- 
men, Visby  in  Gothland  was  a  great 
centre  of  commerce ;  and  hoards  of 
Anglo-Saxon  and  Arab  coins,  anterior 
to  a.d.  1000,  bear  witness  to  this  ;  cf. 
Bonnel,  Russisch-Livlandisehe  Chron- 
ologic, Commentar,  p.  24  ;  Heyd, 
Commerce,  i.  63,  64.  (3)  Scandi- 
navian, and  especially  Swedish,  inter- 
course with  Russia,  particularly  with 
Novgorod  and  its  fairs,  860-1060,  is 
shown  by  many  details  in  Kunik, 
Bervfung  der  Schwedischcn  Rodsen, 
ii.  131,  etc.;  Rafn,  Antiquites  russes, 
i.  295,  359,  432  ;  ii.  119.  (4)  Accord- 
ing to  one  tradition,  the  Goths  of  the 
Crimea  originated  in  a  ninth-century 
migration  from  Gothland,  passing 
through  'Gardariki';  cf.  hiiant,  Ex- 
peditions des  Scandinaves  en  Terrc 
Sainte,  64-5.  (5)  On  the  'Majuj,'  or 
Vikings,    in    Spain,    their    invasions 


of  844,  858-61,  966-71,  and  1014,  and 
embassy  from  Abderrahman  II.  to 
distant  isle  (Orkneys  ?)  inhabited  by 
these  '  Magogs,'  cf.  Dozy,  Jtecherches, 
ii.  252-340  ;  Sebastian  of  Salamanca, 
ch.  26  ;  Dudo  of  St.  Quentin,  in 
Duchesne,  Hist.  Norm.  Script.  144  c- 
152  a.  In  844,  besides  attacking 
Brigantia  Pharos  (near  Corunna), 
threatening  Lisbon,  and  raiding 
Seville,  the  Northmen  made  descents 
on  Africa,  where  a  harbour  near  Arzilla 
was  long  known  as  'the  Majuj  port.' 
Abderrahman  II. 's  envoy,  Al  Ghazal 
of  Jaen,  went  from  Silves  by  sea  to 
Pirates'  Court  and  returned  via 
Compostella.  In  858-61  the  Vikings 
passed  Straits  of  Gibraltar  and  went 
as  far  as  'Greece' ;  even  before  Charle- 
magne's death  (814)  they  had  ap- 
peared oft'  the  Narbonnese.  In  1014, 
they  apparently  sacked  Tuy,  which 
some  identify  with  St.  Olaf's  '  Gunn- 
valdsborg';  Olaf's  'Seliupool'  has 
likewise  been  conjecturally  fixed  at 
estuary  of  Sil  or  Minho.  (6)  On 
early  Norse  descents  in  Erin,  especi- 
ally" in  a.d.  851,  852,  S54,  S59,  866, 
869,  870,  cf.  Annals  of  Ireland, 
Dublin,  1860,  pp.  159-163,  169.  175, 
185.  189,  193. 


(     112     ; 


CHAPTER  III 

PILGRIM   TRAVEL 

In  the  first  part  of  this  survey  of  Mediaeval  Geography  we 
brought  the  record  of  pilgrim-travel  to  the  close  of  the 
ninth  century.  The  present  chapter  endeavours  to  supply 
an  account  of  this  religious  exploration  during  the  next 
350  years,  reaching  to  the  end  of  the  Crusading  era,  the 
fall  of  the  Bagdad  Caliphate,  and  the  establishment  of  the 
empire  of  the  Mongol  Tartars  as  the  dominant  power  in 
Asia  and  Eastern  Europe.  This  long  period  may  be  sub- 
divided into  three ;  the  pre-Crusading  time,  closing  with 
the  election  of  Gregory  VII.  to  the  Eoman  See ;  the  time 
of  the  first  three  Crusades,  closing  with  the  Saracen  re- 
capture of  Jerusalem  in  1187 ;  and  the  time  of  the  later 
Crusading  struggles,  closing  with  the  middle  years  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  when  the  hopes  of  the  Latin  Kingdoms 
in  the  East  were  finally  overthrown,  and  when  new  forces 
had  worked  a  revolution  in  the  relations  of  Europe  with  the 
Levant,  Central  Asia,  and  the  Further  East. 

The  first  of  these  three  epochs  is  naturally  the  least 
interesting.  Beginning  with  the  era  of  the  collapse  of  the 
Frankish  Monarchy  of  Charles  the  Great,  it  ends  with  the 
accession  of  that  great  Pontiff,  under  whose  inspiration  the 
Crusading  movement  finds  its  true  commencement.     With 


Ch.  III.]      CHRISTIAN    PILGRIMAGE    C.A.D.   880-1070       113 

this  movement  opens  a  new  era  for  Western  pilgrims. 
Masters  at  length  of  the  land  so  dear  and  so  coveted,  lords 
of  the  house  where  they  had  so  long  been  servants,  the 
Christians  of  the  Latin  world  flocked  in  crowds  to  the  re- 
covered capital  of  the  Holy  Fields.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
the  two  centuries  before  this  revolution  we  have  but  a  few 
records  of  Syrian  pilgrimage,  showing  little  activity  in 
comparison  of  some  earlier  times,  the  age  of  Constantine, 
the  age  of  Justinian,  or  the  age  of  Charlemagne.  And  it 
would  be  unreasonable  to  expect  otherwise.  There  is  no 
darker  century  of  Christian  History  than  the  tenth — at 
least  in  the  lands  west  of  the  Adriatic ;  practical  enterprise 
and  scientific  interest  were  never  more  nearly  extinct  in 
the  races  whose  only  bond  of  union  was  the  Homan 
Christianity,  now  becoming  so  sharply  antagonistic  to  the 
Churches  of  the  East.  Where  men  should  have  looked  for 
a  leader  and  a  gospel,  there  was  now  but  a  very  sorry  ghost 
of  the  ancient  Empire,  sitting  with  crown  and  sceptre  among 
the  ruins  of  pagan  power.  For  this  was  the  age  of  the 
Pornocracy  at  Rome,  and  the  Imperial  Church  was  dis- 
credited and  incapacitated  for  leadership  by  a  succession  of 
'  human  monsters '  (in  the  words  of  Baronius),1  who  neither 
took  thought  for  decent  morals  nor  good  government,  but 
only  for  the  favour  of  Theodora,  Marozia,  and  other 
'  patronesses,'  for  the  enjoyment  of  such  poor  luxury  as  the 
age  afforded,  and  for  a  complete  immunity  from  the  cares 
of  administration.  The  Imperial  Frankish  State  was  a 
victim  to  the  same  effeminacy,  and  the  same  lack  of  govern- 
ance ;  and  the  result  to  the  Temporal  power  was  a  complete 
suspension  for  nearly  a  century  of  the  Imperial  name  and 
fact  in  the  West,  the  collapse  of  the  first  Komano-German 

1   '  Homines    monstruosi,    vita    turpissimi,    moribus    perditissimi,    usfpie- 
quarpie  f'oedissinri.' 

II 


114  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

kingdom  of  Charles  the  Great,  Charles  the  Bald,  and 
Charles  the  Fat.  From  888  to  962  this  interregnum  lasted, 
and  when  at  last  the  vitality  of  the  German  people  once 
more  made  head  against  internal  discord  and  external  in- 
vasion, the  Empire  which  Otto  I.  restored  was  even  in 
theory  a  narrower  and  less  powerful  body  than  the  great 
State  which,  to  all  seeming,  Charlemagne  had  so  firmly 
welded  together.  The  West  Frank  region,  the  France  of 
the  later  Middle  Age,  was  now  for  ever  detached  from  the 
Eastern  and  more  purely  Germanic  lands ;  but  this  detach- 
ment gave  at  first  little  promise  of  a  strong  and  well-ordered 
state  on  the  west  of  the  Rhone,  Saone,  and  Meuse.  Nowhere 
in  Christendom  was  the  paralysis  of  the  central  power  and  the 
victory  of  political  feudalism  more  complete.  In  Spain,  at 
the  close  of  the  first  millennium,  the  ruin  of  the  Christian 
kingdoms  seemed  almost  as  absolute  as  in  the  eighth  century. 
Barcelona  and  Compostella  were  both  captured  by  the  '  Hagib 
Almanzor,'  the  great  Moslem  general  of  the  Caliph  Hisham  of 
Cordova  (976-1002);  Leon  was  overrun;  the  Christian  ad- 
vance in  the  central  plateau  was  beaten  back ;  and  the 
Western  Caliphate  once  more  reached  to  the  Pyrenees  and 
the  Asturias.  In  England,  the  development  of  Wessex,  under 
King  iElfred  and  his  first  successors,  gave  better  hopes  of  a 
united  realm  covering  the  main  part  of  Britain,  absorbing  the 
settled  Danes  and  Northmen,  and  bidding  defiance  to  fresh 
Scandinavian  attacks ;  but  the  last  quarter  of  the  tenth 
century  blighted  all  this  prospect.  The  new  English  King- 
dom fell  into  hopeless  decrepitude  under  iEthelred  II.  ;  and 
a  similar  decrepitude  under  Otto  II.  also  threatened  the 
revived  German  Empire  at  this  very  time.  On  every  side 
the  history  of  Latin  Christendom  in  the  tenth  century  is 
a  sombre  record. 

The     weakness,     the     comparative     anarchy,    and    the 


III.]        OUTLOOK    AT    CLOSE    OF    FIRST   MILLENNIUM       115 

ignoranee  of  one  civilisation  is  often  in  strong  contrast 
with  the  firm  rule  and  developed  culture  of  others ;  and  at 
this  time  Irish,  Norse,  Byzantine,  and  Moslem  politics  and 
society  appear  to  absorb  all  the  light  that  has  passed  away 
from  the  Latin  world.  The  people,  church,  and  schools  of 
Ireland  close  the  most  brilliant  period  of  their  history  just  as 
the  rest  of  the  mediaeval  Christian  states  are  entering  upon 
the  Renaissance  of  the  Crusading  age.  In  the  terrible 
pressure  of  Viking  attacks  a  higher  political  life  was  de- 
veloped, and  while  England  was  falling  under  Dane  and 
Norseman,  Ireland  seemed  to  be  reaching  its  unity  as  a 
great  kingdom  in  the  victory  of  Clontarf  (1014).  All  through 
the  dark  age  of  the  Imperial  interregnum  and  the  Saxon 
Dynasty  the  Irish  school  of  art  and  literature,  even  of 
geography,  was  probably  superior  to  any  other  in  Western 
Europe  ;  and  here  we  may  remember  that  no  map  of  the 
earlier  Middle  Age  has  the  accuracy  of  one  attributed  to  an 
Irish  scholar-monk.1 

Still  more  remarkable  is  the  position  of  the  Byzantine 
Empire  at  this  time  (880-1025).  In  an  age  of  general 
Catholic  and  Latin  weakness  and  barbarism  the  Orthodox, 
Greek,  or  Eastern  realm  shows  itself  a  better  inheritor 
of  the  name  and  glory  of  Old  Koine :  its  Church  pre- 
serves a  greater  decency  and  displays  a  far  larger 
measure  of  activity ;  its  culture  and  literature  suffer  even 
less  in  the  comparison.  While  Islam  is  crushing  for  the 
second  time  the  Nazavenes  of  Spain,  the  Nazarenes  of 
Nikephoros  Phokas,  John  Tzimiskes  and  Basil  II.  are  win- 
ning victories  in  the  Levant,  and  lightening  the  hostile 
pressure  upon  Christendom  at  large.  While  the  missions 
of  the  Latin  Church  are  neglecting  to  carry  forward  the 
work  of  St.  Ansgar  in  the  North,  or  of  Cyril  and  Methodius 
1  The  '  Cottoniana. ' 


116  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

in  the  East,  the  Eussian  lands  are  won  to  the  Orthodox 
Faith  by  the  more  persuasive  influence  and  more  gorgeous 
ceremonial  of  the  New  Eome.  In  contrast  to  the  atrophy 
of  all  higher  literature  among  the  Franks  of  the  tenth 
century,  the  writings  of  Constantine  VII.,  Born  in  the  Purple? 
are  worthy  of  more  notice  than  they  might  claim  at  another 
time ;  for  his  works  are  typical  of  a  school  of  culture  which 
could  hardly  be  found  in  Italy,  France,  Germany,  or  England 
ill  this  age.  They  are  typical  also  of  a  national  and  ad- 
ministrative activity  which  soon  after  recovered  Crete  and 
Cyprus,  Antioch  and  Edessa,  the  suzerainty  of  Armenia  and 
the  Crimea,  and  the  ancient  Imperial  paramountcy  in  all  those 
Thracian  lands  which  had  been  overrun-  by  the  migration 
of  the  Turkish  Bulgarians  from  the  Volga. 

Once  more  the  misery  and  poverty,  the  inaction  and 
barbarism  of  Latin  countries  in  the  later  ninth  century,  and 
the  whole  of  the  tenth,  contrasts  with  an  extraordinary 
activity  of  Northern  and  heathen  peoples.  The  Scandinavian 
Vikings  are  not  only  the  ravagers  of  Frankland  and  England ; 
they  are  the  superiors  of  Franks  and  English  in  the  arts  of  life 
and  in  literary  instinct,  as  much  as  in  military  skill ;  above 
all,  their  spirit  of  enterprise  and  movement  marks  them  out 
as  the  leaders,  if  they  were  not  to  be  the  supplanters,  of 
European  civilisation. 

Outside  the  limits  of  the  Christian  world,  Islam 
claims  in  this  period  as  much  glory  for  its  science  and 
letters,  as  much  praise  for  its  brilliant  and  tolerant  culture, 
though  hardly  as  much  attention  for  its  universal  ambitions, 
as  in  the  first  centuries  of  the  Caliphate.  But  in  spite  of 
all  appearances,  the  evidence  of  political,  if  not  of  social, 
decay  is  now  becoming  too  strong  to  be  ignored,  and  when 
the  strength  of  Islam  is  regenerated  for  a  time  by  Moors 

1  Porphyrogennetos. 


HI.]        OUTLOOK    AT   CLOSE    OF    FIRST    MILLENNIUM       117 

and  Berbers  in  the  West,  and  by  Turks  in  the  East,  it  is  a 
regeneration  of  arms  and  manhood,  but  not  of  science  or  of 
culture.  Neither  Seljuks  nor  Ottomans  could  found  a 
second  Bagdad  ;  neither  Almoravides  nor  Almohades  could 
permanently  restore  the  prosperity  of  Cordova  and  Kair- 
wan.  Yet,  until  its  political  ruin  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
the  capital  of  Moslem  Spain  retained  much  of  its  intellectual 
glory ;  the  name  of  Averroes  was  linked  with  the  closing 
years  of  Mohammedan  rule  in  the  valley  of  the  Guadal- 
quivir ;  and  even  in  its  last  and  weakest  time  the  Abbasside 
Caliphate  maintained  a  centre  of  Moslem  learning  at  the 
Home  of  Peace  upon  the  Tigris. 

Prom  this  survey  we  may  gather  that  the  Latin  Geo- 
graphy of  the  later  ninth,  the  tenth,  and  the  early  eleventh 
centuries,  will  prove  to  be  a  chronicle  of  little  interest; 
on  the  other  hand,  this  chronicle,  the  record  of  Western 
pilgrim-travel,  is  the  necessary  introduction  to  a  decisive 
period  ;  and  however  meagre  in  its  interest  or  debased  in 
its  form,  yet  it  is  saved  from  oblivion  by  a  certain  rough 
abundance  of  material. 

We  must  begin  by  briefly  reviewing  the  somewhat  arid 
though  lengthy  catalogue  of  journeys,  religious,  diplomatic 
and  other,  which  alone  furnish  us  with  a  sketch,  one  cannot 
say  a  picture,  of  the  relations  between  the  Holy  Places  of 
Syria  and  the  nations  of  Western  Europe,  in  the  troublous 
times  we  have  now  reached.  The  Pontificate  of  John  VIII. 
opens  a  new  stage  in  these  relations,  about  the  year  880.  For 
now  we  have,  for  the  first  time,  a  definite  pronouncement 
from  the  Apostolic  See  on  a  point  of  high  practical  import- 
ance to  the  would-be  Crusaders  of  that  time  which  prepared 
men  for  the  Crusades.  All  warriors  killed  in  fighting  against 
Pagans  and  Unbelievers — were  they,  whatever  their  sins, 
certain  of  Eternal  Salvation  ?     This  question  had  been  some- 


118 


PILGRIM   TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


what  disputed,  and  the  affirmative  answer  of  John  VIII. 
was  a  victory  for  the  spirit  of  Islam  within  the  bosom  of 
Christendom.  Before  the  rise  of  the  Moslem  danger,  the 
balance  of  opinion  in  the  Church  would  probably  have  been 
against  such  an  unconditional  absolution  ;  but  the  seventh 
century  had  worked  a  change  in  the  most  peaceful  of 
Catholics  ;  and  a  repetition  of  seventh-century  woes  seemed 
again  to  threaten  Christendom,  as  men  saw  the  Karling 
empire  dissolve.  The  papal  pronouncement  on  this  matter 
(c.  876-882)  may  be  specially  connected  with  the  embassies 
of  Theodosius,  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  and  of  Elias  III.,  his 
successor,  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  the  '  kings  of  the  race 
of  Charles,  and  the  Clergy  of  the  West'  (a.d.  878,  881).1  Of 
these  missions  the  former  made  a  long  stay  in  Italy ;  as  late 
as  the  2nd  of  May,  879,  the  envoys  are  still  with  Pope  John, 
who  writes  to  Jerusalem  excusing  the  delay,  and  promising 


JOn  these,  (1)  'John  VIII.  to  the 
Bishops  of  Louis  ["le  Begue "  or 
"the  Stammerer,"  King  of  France],' 
of.  Mansi,  Concilia,  xvii.  104  ;  on 
(2)  the  881  embassy  of  Elks  III. 
to  '  Charles  the  younger,  Emperor, 
and  to  all  bishops,  princes,  and 
nobles  of  the  Kingdom  of  Gaul, '  (April- 
October),  cf.  AA.  SS.,  i.e.  Acta 
Sanctorum  (May  iii. ,  xlii.)  ;  Spicile- 
gium  Acherianum,  ii.  370 ;  on  (3)  that 
of  Theodosius,  cf.  Jaffe,  Regesta  Ponti- 
ficum  Romanorum,  2462  (=  Jafle- 
Wattenbach,  3242  ;  '  Theodosius, 
David,  and  Sabas,  sent  to  John 
VIII.  by  Theo  losius,  Patriarch  of 
Jerusa'em,  878');  for  John  VIIL'sex- 
cuses  on  account  of  delay,  cf.  AA.  SS. 
May  vii.  699  ;  Jaffe,  2462  {Archives 
de  V Orient  Latin,  i.  '22-31.).  Count 
Riant  well  contrasts  the.  declaration  of 
Johu  VIII.  with  the  letter  of  Adrian 
I.  to  Charles  the  Great  (778)  when 
the    Frank    King    was    starting    on 


a  Spanish  campaign.  In  this  no 
allusion  whatever  is  made  to  this  as 
a  Holy  War,  though  waged  against 
Moslems.  Leo  IV.,  in  848,  is  the 
only  Pontiff  who  in  any  measure 
anticipates  John  VIII.  Calling  the 
Franks  to  the  help  of  Rome  against 
the  Saracens,  he  speaks  of  the 
certainty  of  Celestial  Reward  for  any 
one  killed  in  defending  the  capital  of 
Christendom.  But  (1)  the  defence  of 
Rome  was  a  special  matter  and  quite 
different  from  a  general  state  of  war 
against  Saracens  ;  (2)  Leo's  language 
ii  vague  ;  (3)  John  VIII. 's  pronounce- 
ment includes  aggressive  as  well  as 
defensive  war.  In  963,  at  the  in- 
stigation of  St.  Polyeuctes,  Nike- 
pforos  Phokas  issued  a  similar 
edict,  declaring  that  the  soldiers 
killed  in  his  Syrian  wars  were 
martyrs  of  the  Church.  (Cedrenus 
II.,  368  (Bonn  ed.);  Zonaras,  bk. 
xvi. ). 


III.  I  PALESTINE    AND    THE    LATIN    WORLD  119 

in  explanation  a  consignment  of  money  and  necessaries 
for  the  faithful  of  the  Holy  City.  The  Eastern  Brethren 
must  remain  to  take  back  these  gifts  ,  they  only  awaited 
the  complete  collection  of  the  same.  As  to  the  second 
mission  of  Elias  III.  in  881  (entrusted  to  a  pair  of  monks, 
named  Gisbert  and  Reinard,  who  from  their  names  must  be 
Western  and  not  Syrian  ecclesiastics),  this  was  avowedly  for 
the  collection  of  subsidies  to  free  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  from 
various  building  debts.  The  credentials  of  this'  embassy, 
a  letter  from  the  Patriarch  to  Charles  the  Fat,  last  of  the 
immediate  successors  of  Charlemagne,  gained  sume  notoriety 
in  the  West ;  a  century  later  it  was  known  in  England, 
and  it  is  noticed  of  Asser  the  historian  that  he  had  read 
the  document  in  question.  About  the  same  time  as  this 
appeal  to  the  generosity  of  the  Franks,  and  probably  in 
the  year  883,  occurs  the  famous  journey  of  the  West  Saxons 
Sighelm  and  JEthelstan.  These  '  gift-bearers,'  probably 
priests,  '  carried  to  Rome  the  alms  which  King  iElfred  had 
vowed  to  send  thither,  and  also  to  India,  to  St.  Thomas  and 
St.  Bartholemew.'  Between  Rome  and  Malabar  the 
mission  probably  visited  Jerusalem,  and  the  English  king, 
in  return  for  his  offerings  to  these  distant  churches,  received 
presents  of  silks,  spices,  gums,  and  Eastern  shawls.1 

All  these  journeys  to  and  from  the  Levant  have  a 
certain  similarity  ;  they  are  all  connected  with  the  poverty, 
and  so  with  the  relief,  of  the  subject  Christians  of  the  East; 
and  they  may  all  be  paralleled  by  earlier  missions.  Pope 
John  VIII.  received  the  envoys  of  Theodosius  and  Elias  III., 
and  helped  them  to  collect  money  in  the  West,  just  as 
earlier  popes  had  done  in  past  time  :    Martin  I.  in  649  and 


1  Of.  William  of  Malmesbury,  Gesta 
Begum  Anglorum,  bk.  ii.  §  122 ; 
Florence  of  Worcester,  Chron.,  a.d. 
SS3  :     Roger    of    Wendover,     Flores   i 


Hist. ,  ed.  Coxe,  i.  154  ;  Sighelm 
returned,  and  afterwards  became 
Bishop  of  Sherborne. 


120  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

652-3  ;  Gregory  the  Great  in  596,  600,  and  603 ;  Leo  the 
Great  in  453;  Leo  III.  in  799,  800,  803,  807,  and  809; 
Gregory  IV.  in  834  and  840.  On  all  these  occasions 
(  servants  of  God '  from  the  Holy  Land  brought  the  letters, 
the  appeals  for  money,  and  the  requests  for  military  or 
diplomatic  aid,  which  the  Eastern  Christian  poured  out 
with  ever  increasing  frequency  after  the  Moslem  conquest 
of  Syria  and  Egypt.  This  was  one  side  of  the  correspon- 
dence. The  other  was  shown  in  the  Papal  embassies  to 
Jerusalem,  such  as  these  of  Julius  I.  in  342  ;  of  Anastasius  I. 
in  400  ;  of  Innocent  L  in  417  ;  of  Coelestine  I.  in  430  ;  of  Leo 
the  Great  in  453,  454,  and  457;  of  Gregory  the  Great  in  591, 
597,  601,  and  603;  it  is  also  manifested  in  the  Frankish 
missions,  of  765  from  King  Pepin,  and  of  797,  799,  and  803 
from  Charles  the  Emperor.  Of  these  last,  the  greater  number 
(if  not  all)  probably  visited  Jerusalem,  but  as  a  rule  they  seem 
to  have  been  in  the  first  place  addressed  to  the  Caliph  at 
Bagdad.  Thus  they  called  out  the  return  of  courtesies  from 
the  Mussulman  side,  in  the  missions  of  800,  802,  and  807, 
from  Harun-al-Eashid,1  just  as  the  embassy  of  825  from  Lewis 
the  Pious2  had  its  response  in  that  of  831  from  Al-Mamun. 
In  the  period  we  have  now  reached,  this  diplomatic 
intercourse  is  almost  the  only  evidence  of  travel  from 
1  The  last   of  which   is   especially   i    to     Rome    from     Syria,     cf.    Acta 


famous. 

2  Entrusted  to  the  monk  Ragana- 
rius.  On  the  papal  embassies  to  Syria 
(Jerusalem)  above  noticed,  cf.  Jaffe, 
Regesta  Pontificum  Romanorum,  81, 
120,  156,  277-8,  291,  302,  728,  1127, 
1396,  1515,  2462  '(  =  Jaffe- Watten- 
bach,  282,  325,  373,  etc.) ;  for  similar 
Roman  letters  and  missions  to 
Antioch,  ibid.  102-7,  156,  169,  171, 
993;  994,  1105,  1112,  1209,  2029, 
2493,  3287,  etc.,  extending  from 
a  n.  415  to   1054.     On   the  appeals 


Sanctorum.,  May  iii.,  i.-lxxii.,  Trac- 
tatus  praelhninaris  ale  episcopis  et 
patriarchis  Sa*  Hierosae  EcclM ; 
as  well  as  the  Appendix  in  the  vol. 
May  vii.,  696-706,  of  the  Acta  (pro- 
perly an  addition  to  the  vol.  May  iii.), 
on  the  Bishops  and  Patriarchs  of 
Jerusalem ;  Archives  de  V Orient  Latin, 
i.  26-38,  and  especially  27-28  ;  and 
Jaff6,  Reg.  Pont.  Rom.,  291,  1110, 
1396,  1515,  2462,  etc.  ;  Jaffe,  Monu- 
mental Carolina,  382,  383,  3S6. 


III.] 


PALESTINE    AND    THE    LATIN    WORLD 


121 


Western  Europe  to  Western  Asia,  and  we  are  obliged  there- 
fore to  notice  in  some  details  these  meagre  traces,  which 
alone  survive,  of  geographical  movement  in  the  tenth 
century. 

About  the  year  900,  the  Patriarch  Elias  III.  makes  another 
appeal  to  the  Christian  West — and  in  this  appeal  he  is 
joined  by  Pope  Benedict  IV.  Their  Holinesses  address  two 
encyclicals  to  the  faithful ;  and  both  these  letters  introduce  to 
the  charity  of  good  Christians  a  certain  Malacena,  Bishop  of 
Amasia,  and  his  mission  of  ransom.  Some  of  his  monks  had 
been  taken  captive  by  the  Turks  of  the  Caspian,  and  he 
had  started  for  Europe  to  collect  the  means  for  regaining 
their  freedom.  The  rich  and  powerful  Christendom  of  the 
West  is  again  called  to  aid  the  elder  sister  of  the  East — 
on  evil  times  now  fallen,  and  evil  tongues.  And  yet  one 
thinks  of  Western  Christendom,  at  this  time,  as  in  the 
darkest  of  its  dark  ages. 

In  932  a  letter  from  the  '  Bishop  of  the  Holy  City  '  was 
read  at  a  council  in  Erfurt ;  but  this  is  the  last  trace  for  a 
time  of  the  Franco-Syrian  connection  and  of  the  quasi- 
protectorate  of  the  Western  Emperors  over  Christian 
interests  in  Palestine  which  had  been  marked  by  so  many 
incidents : — by  Charlemagne's  buildings  in  Jerusalem,  for 
the  comfort  of  Latin  pilgrims ;  by  his  acquisition  of  the 
Keys  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  as  a  friendly  gift  from  the  '  Just ' 
Harun ;  by  the  landed  possession  of  the  Syrian  Church  in 
France  and  Italy;1  by  the  frequent  embassies  from  Syria 


1  Thus  the  Church  of  Jerusalem 
had  lands  of  its  own  at  Neuvy  and 
Manriac,  and  apparently  other  real 
property  held  in  common  with  the 
Abbey  of  Conques,  cf.  Archives  de 
V Orient  Latin,  i.  28  ;  the  Church  of 
Sinai  also  had  property  in  Normandy, 
cf.  AA.  SS.,  June  i.  87-104,  especially 


89;  Pertz,  M.G.  SS.  (  =  Monumenta 
Germaniac,  Scriptores),  viii.  209,  210, 
211,  cf.  AA.  SS.,  June  i.  87-104, 
on  the  life  and  travels  of  St. 
Symeon,  the  '  recluse  of  the  Gate  of 
Trier.'  He  is  sent  (c.  a.d.  1034-35) 
from  the  Monastery  of  Mount  Sinai 
into  the  West  to  collect  moneys  pro- 


122  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

to  Frankland  aud  from  Frankland  to  Syria ;  as  well  as  by 
the  alms  sent  yearly  from  the  Karling  Court  to  Jerusalem 
during  a  great  part  of  the  reigns  of  Pepin,  of  Charles,  and 
of  Louis  the  Pious. 

Before  the  end  of  the  ninth  century  this  quasi- 
protectorate  had  passed  from  the  Franks  to  the  Byzantines ; 
and  during  the  next  hundred  years  successive  emperors  of 
Constantinople  asserted  more  and  more  closely  their  position 
as  guardians  of  the  subject  Christians  of  the  Levant.  Thus 
Constantine  VII.1  in  947  sends  gifts  to  the  Patriarch  of 
Jerusalem  ;  and  in  April  of  the  same  year  the  clerk  Niketas, 
in  a  letter  to  the  Divine  Emperor,  inheritor  of  the  name  and 
virtues  of  Constantine  the  Great,  describes  the  Easter  Eve 
miracle  of  the  Holy  Fire,  and  the  recent  attempt  of  a  '  cursed 
Emir'  to  abrogate  this  festival.  Several  matters  of  later 
date  show  the  continuance  of  this  Byzantine  influence ;  the 
re-conquest  of  a  great  part  of  Syria  by  John  Tzimiskes,  a  strik- 
ing though  temporary  proof  of  the  revived  power  of  the  Old 
Empire  (968-975) ;  the  introductions  which  Fulk  the  Black  of 
Anjou  carried  from  Pope  Sergius  IV.  to  Basil  II.  (1011);  and 
the  treaty  of  1021  with  the  Fatimite  Caliph  of  Cairo,  whereby 
the  position  of  Constantinople  as  spokesman  and  champion 
of  Eastern  Christianity  was  fully  recognised.  Another  proof 
of  the  same  fact  may  be  drawn  from  an  interesting  letter 
of  Pope  Victor  II.  to  the  Empress-Begent  Theodora,  in  which 


mised  by  Richard,  Duke  of  the  Nor- 
mans. One  Eberwin,  returning  from 
Palestine  with  a  certain  Richard, 
Abbot  of  Verdun,  meets  him  at 
Antioch.  Symeon  tries  to  go  with 
Eberwin  and  Richard  overland,  but 
is  stopped  at  Belgrade  ;  he  returns 
to  the  sea,  and  so  goes  by  Rome  to 
'  Francia,'  comes  to  Rouen,  finds  Duke 
Richard  just  dead,  and  stays  with 
Abbot  Richard  and  Eberwin.    Poppo, 


Archbishop  of  Trier,  soon  after  goes 
to  Palestine  and  takes  Symeon  with 
him  and  back.  Finally  Symeon 
makes  himself  a  cell  at  the  Porta 
Negra  of  Trier,  and  dies  in  great 
sanctity. 

1  Porphyrogennetos  or  '  Porphyro- 
genitus.'  For  the  interesting  letter 
of  Niketas,  'least  among  clerics,' 
cf.  Archives  cle  VOrient  Latin,  i. 
375-382. 


IH.  I  PALESTINE    AND    THE    LATIN    WORLD  123 

the  Pontiff  complains  of  the  exactions  which  the  Greek 
guardians  of  the  Holy  Places  levied  upon  Western  pilgrims 
(1054-1057).  A  recent  journey  of  Bishop  Helinand  of 
Laon  was  probably  the  immediate  reason  of  this  appeal ; 
the  story  of  his  troubles  in  Jerusalem  had  turned  back  Lietbert 
of  Cambrai  after  a  toilsome  pilgrimage  as  far  as  Laodicea  ; 
and  loud  and  bitter  were  the  complaints  of  Greek  '  in- 
tolerance '  now  heard  at  Eome. 

Once  more,  the  well-known  tract,  On  the  Situation  of 
Jerusalem,1  which  by  some  critics  has  been  assigned  to  the 
epoch  of  the  First  Crusade,  more  probably  belongs  to  the 
period  of  Byzantine  dominion  in  Syria  during  the  middle 
of  the  tenth  century,  and  this  period  is  also  marked  by 
various  imperial  letters  to  distant  rulers,2  expressive  of  the 
revived  power  of  the  Greek  rulers  in  Western  Asia. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  tenth  century  we  have  rather 
more  frequent  notices  of  Palestine  pilgrimages  from  Western 
and  Northern  Europe.  One  St.  John  of  Parma  visits  the 
Holy  Sites  six  times,  especially  in  982.  In  985,  986,  and 
988,  the  same  journey  is  made  by  various  monks  from 
Monte  Cassino,  John  of  Beneventum,.  Leo,  brother  of  Abbot 
Aligernus,  and  others,  together  with  a  certain  Count 
Malefrid  and  his  son.  In  987  two  Icelanders,  Thorvald 
Kodranson  and  Stefnir  Thorgilson,  make  their  appearance 
at  the  Sepulchre  of  Christ — early  results  of  that  conversion 
of  the  Northmen  whose  consequences  for  Europe,  for 
civilisation,  and  for  Christendom  were  so  deep  and  so 
far-reaching.  Not  without  dramatic  interest  is  the  scene 
called   up   by   this    brief    notice ;    the   picturesque  historian 

1  Quallter  seta  est  civitas  Hieru-  i  King  of  Armenia,  probably  spurious. 
salem.  For  Victor  II. 's  complaint,  cf.  Aligne, 

2  Kg.    from    John    Tzimiskes    to  Patrologia   Latina,    cxlix.    961-962  ; 
Leon,  governor  of  Daron,   probabiy  Jane,  Reg.  Pout.  Rum.,  no.  4015. 
genuine;  and  from  the  same  to  Aschod, 


124  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [On. 

might  well  enlarge  upon  the  meeting  of  the  huge-limbed, 
fair-haired,  blue-eyed  sea-rovers  from  the  North  with  those 
Christians,  knights  and  merchants,  priests  and  monks,  whose 
most  terrible  enemies  they  had  been,  whose  best  allies  they 
were  yet  to  be. 

About  990  Poppo,  Abbot  of  Stavelot,  and  in  997  Frederic, 
Count  of  Verdun,  each  with  a  party  of  attendants,  follow 
in  the  same  'holy  road.'  In  993 1  another  noble,  Hugh, 
Marquis  of  Tuscany,  and  his  wife,  Juliette,  send2  gifts  of 
value  to  the  Tomb  of  the  Lord  and  to  the  Monastery  of 
Sta.  Maria  Latina  in  Jerusalem ;  while  about  the  same 
time  (995)  Orestes  the  Patriarch  despatches  an  embassy 
to  Pope  John  XV.  (after  the  fashion  of  an  earlier  period), 
asking  questions  about  various  matters  of  ritual  and 
discipline.  A  more  doubtful  record  assigns  to  this  epoch 
an  urgent  appeal  from  the  '  immaculate  Spouse  of  God '  to 
the  sympathy  and  succour  of  the  West.  This  outcry 
against  an  even  more  unbearable  Saracen  oppression  pro- 
fessed to  come  through  the  famous  Gerbert,  afterwards  Pope 
Sylvester  IL ;  but  it  is  probably  one  of  those  rhetorical 
exercises  to  which  the  Crusading  movement  gave  rise,  and 
it  may  be  referred  to  an  epoch  sixty  or  seventy  years  later 
than  the  great  Pope  who  has  so  long  stood  sponsor  for  its 
eloquence.  The  story  of  Gerbert's  pilgrimage  need  not 
perhaps  be  altogether  discredited  (c.  a.d.  986) ;  but  his 
famous  letter  is  surrounded  by  too  many  difficulties  for 
modern  enquiry  to  accept  it,  like  Michaud,3  as  a  '  precious 
monument'  of  the  first  pope  who  expressed  the  Crusading 
sentiment.4 


1  Charta  of  St.  Victor  of  Marseilles, 
in  Martene,  Amplissima  Collcctio,  i., 
347-348. 

2  29th  October  993. 


3  Michaud,  Bibliotheque  des  Croisa- 
des,  ii.,  491,  ed.  of  1829. 

4  Cf.  Archives  dc  F  Orient  Latin,  i., 
pp.  31-38,  especially  34,  note;  35, note. 


III.]  JOURNEYS    OF    X™    AND    XI'H    CENTURIES  125 

With  the  eleventh  century,  as  we  have  already  noticed, 
a  new  age  begins :  old  things  are  passing  away ;  all  things 
are  becoming  new.  It  is  the  same  in  travel  as  in  every- 
thing else.  Pilgrims  are  multiplied  tenfold;  and  in  the 
words  of  Ralph  Glaber,  '  first  went  the  meaner  folk,  then 
men  of  middle  rank,  then  many  kings  and  counts,  marquises 
and  bishops;  yea,  and  even  women  also,  a  thing  unknown 
before.'  Emmerad,  a  monk  of  Anzy  ;x  Makko  of  Constance, 
about  the  year  1000,  passing  from  West  to  East,  cross  the 
path,  but  without  meeting  the  person,  of  Simeon  the 
Armenian,  who  in  the  same  year  goes  from  East  to  West 
with  the  commendatory  letters  of  the  Patriarch  Arsenius. 
We  do  not  know  if,  at  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  they  met  with 
some  of  the  many  pilgrims  from  Georgia,  who  also  entered 
'  Sacred  Hierosolyma '  this  year.  But  this  is  only  one 
occasion  out  of  many  when  such  a  meeting  between  the 
furthest  East  and  the  furthest  West  of  the  Christian  world 
may  have  taken  place,  or  did  actually  happen  by  the  side 
of  the  tomb  of  Christ.  In  1002-3  an  unnamed  monk  of 
Tours,  a  hermit  from  Bamberg,  and  the  terrible  Black 
Count  of  Anjou,  Fulk  Nerra,  are  the  chief  figures  of  our 
Travellers'  Register.  Fulk  made  in  all  three  journeys  to 
Syria  ;  his  death  in  1040,  at  Metz,  was  the  closing  incident 
of  the  third  and  last  of  these  expeditions.  On  his  second 
visit  (it  is  said)  he  had  to  buy  admission  to  the  Holy  City 
for  himself  and  his  comrades.  He  was  only  allowed  to 
approach  the  'all  holy  grave  of  the  Lord'  on  promising 
to  insult  the  Cross ;  evading  this  ordeal,  he  contrived  to 
bite  off  a  piece  of  the  rock  with  his  '  teeth  of  iron,'  and 
returned    with    this    relic    to    his    own    country,    where    he 


1  Emmirad,  Erairard  or  Emmerad, 
passes  nearly  seven  years  at  Jerusalem 
according  to  AA.  SS.  April  ii.,  770. 


The  Acta  for  Jul.  vi.,  327,  say  of 
Simeon  the  Armenian  that  he  also 
made  the  pilgrimage  to  Rome. 


126 


PILGRIM    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


presented  it  in  triumph  to  his  Abbey  of  Beaulieu.  Pilgrim- 
age, like  adversity,  sometimes  made  strange  companions ; 
in  1003  we  have  the  legend  of  one  Guy,  a  hermit  from 
Brabant,  appearing  at  Jerusalem  at  the  same  time  as 
Olaf  Tryggveson,  the  first  Christian  King  of  Norway.1  A 
whole  flock  of  Scandinavian  devotees  were  said  to  have 
followed  soon  after ;  and  two  French  abbots,  Gauzlin  of 
Fleury  in  1004,  and  Eoger  of  Figeac  in  1005,  probably  met 
some  of  these  Northmen  at  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  Many 
travellers  perished  on  the  way ;  Leger  the  deacon  of  Auxerre, 
who  was  '  given  the  sea  for  his  grave ' ;  Andrew  the  knight, 
buried  at  Jerusalem  itself;  Hictarius  'the  blessed,  taken 
from  earth  by  the  mercy  of  God,'  before  he  had  reached 
the  tomb  of  Christ.2 

A  terrible  event  startled  the  pilgrim  world  in  the  first 
years  of  the  eleventh  century  (1010).  Hakim  Biamrillah,3 
Fatimite  Caliph,  and  temporal  sovereign  of  Palestine,  in 
that   madness    which    the    Druses    recognise   as   a    Divine 


1  This  story  is  quite  legendary. 
Olaf  Tryggveson  died  in  1000  at  the 
battle  of  Svold  ;  but  his  people  clung 
to  a  belief  in  his  escape  and  continued 
life  in  exile,  and  the  tale  of  his 
pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  formed  a 
part  of  this  patriotic  myth. 

2  Cf.  Migne,  P.L.,  cxxxviii.  1229, 
1232,  1252.  On  the  other  journeys 
of  St.  John  of  Parma,  etc.,  etc.,  here 
referred  to,  cf.  Archives  de  I'Orient 
Latin,  i.  34,  note  ;  and  AA.  SS.  Roll. 
May  v.  179-180;  [July  iv.  281]; 
April  ii.  770  ;  July  vi.  327  ;  Sept. 
vi.  722 ;  Sept.  iv.  43  ;  also  Pertz, 
M.G.  SS.,  vii.  63,  636-642  ;  xi.  295; 
iv.  49  ;  xx.  635  ;  ix.  59  ;  Thorvald's 
Saga,  ch.  x.,  ed.  Arne  Magnaeus, 
pp.  334-7  ;  Constantine  Porph.,  De 
ochninistrando  imperio,  Bonn  edition, 


p.  199  ;  Fornmanna  Sogur,  iii.  32- 
34;  x.  370;  N.  Arch.  f.  a.  d.  G., 
iii.  353  ;  Mabillon,  Ann.  O.S.B., 
iv.  170  ;  Riant,  Expeditions  .  .  . 
des  Scandinaves  en  terre  sainte,  102-5, 
117,  118  ;  Bin.  Lat.  Hicros.,  II. 
series  chronolog.  peregrin,  a.d.  1064  ; 
JRccueil  des  historiens  de  la  France, 
x.  282;  x.  15  (=  Ralph  Glaber,  ii. 
4,  on  Fulk).  See  also  page  217  note. 
3  On  Hakim,  cf.  what  Nasir  i- 
Khusrau  says  at  the  end  of  his 
account  of  Syria.  On  the  destruc- 
tion and  reconstruction  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  cf.  Ralph  Glaber,  Chron., 
iii.  ch  i.  ;  Will.  Tyre,  i.  ch.  iv.  ; 
Cedrenus,  ed.  Bonn,  pp.  515,  521  : 
Zonaras,  xvii.  :  Makrizi,  in  De  Sacy, 
Chrcstomathie  arabe,  i.  98, 


Ill]  DESTRUCTION    OF    THE    HOLY    SEPULCHRE  127 

Emanation,1  destroyed  the  Christian  buildings  at  the  Holy 
Sepulchre ;  a  few  years  later  they  were  reconstructed 
(a.d.  1021 )  ;  but  a  wild  cry  of  vengeance  was  raised  by 
many  Catholics,  and  the  Vandalism  of  Hakim  unques- 
tionably hastened  the  movement  which,  slowly  gathering 
strength  during  the  next  eighty  years  (1020-1096),  burst 
upon  the  Levant  with  the  armed  strength  of  the  Crusaders. 
The  treaty  of  1020-1,  which  put  the  Syrian  Christians  under 
the  special  protection  of  the  Byzantine  Emperors,  has  been 
already  noticed,  and  is  significant  of  the  increased  prestige 
and  power  of  Constantinople ;  but  it  is  perhaps  even  more 
noteworthy,  in  view  of  future  events,  that  so  many  Western 
and  Latin  sovereigns  now  began  to  take  up  again  the  part 
of  Charlemagne  in  Palestine. 

Thus  the  newly-converted  Kings  of  Hungary,  and 
especially  the  great  St.  Stephen,  came  forward  as  founders 
and  benefactors,  and  more  than  one  hospice  for  Roman 
pilgrims  was  due  to  their  liberality.2  Their  example  was 
followed  in  1063-70,  by  the  Republic  of  Amain',  which 
shared  so  prominently  with  Pisa  and  Venice  in  maintaining 
the  naval  department  of  the  Crusading,  armaments  a  genera- 
tion later.  The  Norman  Dukes  also  showed  a  keen  interest  in 
the  Christian  East ;  and  Richard  I.,  William  Longsword,  and 
Richard  II.  all  sent  messengers  with  alms  and  presents  to 


1  The  letters  from  the  Jews  of 
Western  Europe  inciting  him  to  this 
action,  which  have  passed  into 
documentary  history,  were  probably 
forgeries  of  a  later  date,  invented  to 
justify  the  anti-Semitism  of  the  Cru- 
sading Era  itself ;  cf.  Adhemar  of 
Chabanais,  in  Pertz,  M.G.  S.S.,  iv., 
137  ;  viii.  210,  399  ;  Ralph  Glaber, 
iii.  ch.  vii. 


route  from  Western  Europe  to  Syria. 
'  Nearly  all  those  who  wished  to  go 
from  Italy  and  Gaul  to  Jerusalem 
began  to  forsake  the  accustomed  way 
by  sea,  and  to  make  their  passage 
through  this  king's  country 
(Stephen's).  He  made  the  way  very 
safe  for  all,  and  thus  allured  by  his 
benevolence  a  countless  multitude, 
both  of  noble   and   common  people, 


2  For    Hungary,    on    joining   the   ,    to   start  for   Jerusalem.'  R.   Glaber, 
Latin   communion,    became    a    main  I    Chron.,  iii.  c.   1  (M.G.,  SS.,  vii.  62). 


128  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [On. 

the  Grave  of  Jesus.  An  embassy  of  Richard  II. 's  in  1026 
is  specially  recorded:  on  this  occasion  a  namesake,  the  Abbot 
of  Grace  Dieu,  made  the  pilgrimage  on  the  Duke's  behalf. 
Like  Pope  Gregory  I.,  Richard  II.  also  exchanged  gifts  and 
greetings  with  the  monks  of  Mount  Sinai.  His  successor, 
Robert  the  Magnificent,  father  of  William  the  Conqueror, 
did  even  more.  In  1035  he  left  his  Duchy  and  went  in 
person  to  Jerusalem ;  on  his  return  he  died  at  Nicaea,  and 
was  laid  in  the  Church  of  the  Panagia  in  that  city. 

Once  more,  the  Lords  of  Aquitaine,  perhaps  the  greatest 
Christian  sovereigns  in  South-West  Europe  at  this  time, 
joined  in  the  prevailing  fashion.  Duke  William  III.,  l  father 
of  monks,  founder  of  churches,  friend  of  the  Roman  See,' 
made  several  pilgrimages  both  to  Rome  and  to  Compostella, 
where  the  Shrine  of  St.  James  was  rising  into  fame.  Unable 
himself  to  go  as  far  as  Syria,  he  sent  there  his  trusty 
minister,  William  of  Angouleme,  with  a  great  company  of 
lords  and  prelates.  This  little  army  journeyed  by  the  land 
route  through  Hungary,  received  the  hospitality  of  St. 
Stephen,  and  enjoyed  a  prosperous  and  speedy  '  accom- 
plishment of  vows.'  Setting  out  in  October,  they  were 
in  Jerusalem  by  March,  and  home  again  at  Angouleme  in 
June. 

Yet  again,  not  a  few  eminent  pilgrims  came  from  England 
about  this  time,  and  especially  during  the  reign  of  Edward 
the  Confessor.  Thus  Svein  or  Swegen,  the  eldest  son  of 
Earl  Godwine,  and  the  scandal  of  his  house,  made  his  way 
to  Jerusalem  from  Bruges  at  the  time  of  the  first  Norman 
ascendency  in  England  and  consequent  exile  of  the  Godwine 
clan  (1051-1052).  His  evil  life  had  a  good  ending.  He 
died  upon  the  Sacred  Road,  at  the  city  of  Constantine,  '  on 
Michael's  Mass '  (1053).  Some  years  later,  in  1058,  Ealdred, 
Bishop     of     Worcester,    more    famous    as    Archbishop     of 


HI.]       JOURNEYS  OF  ELEVENTH  CENTURY       129 

York l  in  the  era  of  the  Norman  Conquest,  went  to  Jerusalem 
'  with  such  splendour  as  none  other  had  displayed  before 
him ;  there  he  devoted  himself  to  God ;  and  a  worthy  gift 
he  offered  at  the  Lord's  tomb,  even  a  golden  chalice  of 
wondrous  work.' 

Lastly,  among  many  instances  of  German  pilgrimage  at 
this  time,  let  us  take  three  famous  journeys  from  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century.  In  1038  Poppo,  Arch- 
bishop of  Trier,  makes  his  way  to  Palestine  along  with  the 
hermit  Symeon,  afterwards  canonised  by  Pope  Benedict  IX. 
Again,  in  1054,  Pulcher,  Arch-Chaplain  of  the  Empire  and 
Vidame  of  Arras,  takes  leave  of  his  master,  the  Emperor  Henry 
III.,  as  he  is  on  the  point  of  setting  out  for  the  Holy  Land 
with  Lietbert,  Bishop  of  Cambrai  and  Arras.  This  voyage  was 
a  sad  failure  ;  the  pilgrims  fell  among  thieves,  were  ransomed 
by  the  Catapan  of  Cyprus,  and  at  Laodicea  abandoned  their 
further  journey.  For  here  they  met  with  Helinand, 
Bishop  of  Laon,  returning  from  Jerusalem,  and  he  drew 
such  a  picture  of  the  troubles  that  awaited  them  in  the 
Holy  City,  that  they  decided  to  tempt  God  no  further.2 
Once  more,  in  1064,  Siegfried,  Archbishop  of  Mainz,  and 
Giinther,  Bishop  of  Bamberg,  with  two  other  prelates,  the 
Bishops  of  Utrecht  and  Eatisbon,  conduct  an  army  of  7000 


1  He  acted  at  the  Coronation  of 
William  the  Norman  as  chief  Pre- 
late (1066),  Stigand  of  Canterbury 
not  being  recognised  by  the  Con- 
queror. 

2  Riant  suggests  that  Victor's 
appeal  to  the  Empress  Theodora  (see 
pp.  122-3)  was  the  result  of  a  meeting 
at  Cologne  between  the  Pope  and  the 
Bishop  of  Cambrai.  Lietbert  had 
just  returned  from  Laodicea  with  the 
account  of  Helinand's  miserable  ex- 
perience in  Palestine ;  Victor  had 
gone  to  Germany  to  gather  aid  against 


the  Saracens  of  the  Mediterranean ; 
we  may  notice  that  his  complaint  to 
the  Byzantine  Government  is  written 
from  Cologne  (at  the  beginning  of 
December  1056).  With  this  we  may 
connect  and  contrast  the  alleged 
Firman  of  the  Caliph  Mozaffer  in 
favour  of  the  Christian  Holy  Places 
(1023).  The  last,  however,  was  re- 
jected as  spurious  by  Heyd,  in  the 
original  (German)  edition  of  the  Com- 
merce du  Levant,  i.,  116  ;  cf.  Archives 
de  r Orient  Latin,  i.  52  ;  Bore,  Lieux 
Saints,  p.  5. 


I 


130  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

pilgrims  to  Syria.  Their  numbers  and  their  adventures 
have  led  many  chroniclers  to  call  their  journey  a  Crusade. 
From  their  losses  it  might  well  have  been  an  armed  attack 
on  Islam,  for  of  the  seven  thousand  only  two l  returned. 
Attacked  by  Saracen  robbers  near  Jaffa,  and  'hunted  for 
their  rich  apparel,'  the  party  fled  to  a  fortress,  where 
they  held  out  three  days,2  and  then  yielded,  more  from 
panic  than  real  necessity.  Offering  their  money  for  their 
life,  they  admitted  the  Moslem  leaders  within  the  wall. 
Seventeen  Saracens  entered,  and  one  who  '  took  the  head- 
ship of  them '  singled  out  the  Bishop  of  Bamberg  as  his 
special  victim.  Unrolling  his  turban,  he  flung  it  round 
the  Prelate's  neck  with  a  joyful  cry — '  Thou  and  all  thou 
hast  are  mine.'  But  the  fighting  bishops  of  the  West  were 
different  from  the  broken-spirited  Christians  of  Syria.  The 
Prankish  Churchman  felled  his  captor  with  a  blow  of  his 
fist ;  the  rest  of  the  company,  regaining  courage,  seized  and 
bound  all  the  other  brigands  who  had  come  into  their  power, 
then,  closing  the  gates  against  the  hordes  outside,  they  held 
the  fort  till  the  Lord  of  Eamleh  came  to  their  relief.3  One 
other  thing  may  be  recorded  of  this  journey.  From  letters 
of  the  Provost  of  Passau  we  see  how  Bishop  Giinther,  of 
Bamberg,  had  arranged  for  his  journey  through  the  neighbour- 

57 ;  Archives  de  I'Orient  Latin,  i. 
53-56.  On  Fulcher  or  Foucher  of 
Arras,  cf.  Su<iendorf,  Eegistrum,  iii. 
No.  6,  pp.  12-13. 

3  The  Latin  accounts  do  not  dis- 
tinguish enough  between  the  Saracen 
brigands  (Bedouins,  etc.)  and  the 
settled  inhabitants  and  garrisons, 
who  generally  treated  visitors  well, 
for  the  sake  of  commerce;  e.g.  in  this 
case,  where  the  Egyptian  garrison 
at  Jerusalem  rescues  the  prisoners  at 
Ramleh. 


1  Tbousand. 

2  Cf.  Marianus  Scottus,  Chronicle, 
a.d.  1064 :  the  pilgrims  when 
attacked  by  the  Arabs,  fled  to  a 
'castellum  vacuum  Cavar  Salini 
nomine'  (i.e.  probably  Kafar  Sallam, 
abandoned  in  the  eleventh  century 
by  its  inhabitants ;  cf.  Schefer's 
Nasir  -  i  -  Khusrau,  p.  63).  On 
Siegfried's  journey,  cf.  Eccard,  Corp. 
hist.  meal.  aev.  ii.  122-3  ;  Sudendorf, 
Regisirum,  ii.,  No.  12,  pp.  14-15  ; 
Ibid.  iii.  No.  16,  p.  28;  Jaffe,  Mon. 
Bamb.  No.  28,  p.  54,  No.  29,  pp.  56, 


III.]  NEW    ERA    WITH    HILDEBRAND  131 

ing  districts,  and  how  elaborate  such  arrangements  could  be, 
even  in  1064.  In  the  spring  of  1065  Giinther  writes  to 
his  Diocesans,  describing  to  them  the  course  of  his  journey 
down  to  his  arrival  at  Laodicea,  on  the  homeward  way  ;  but 
soon  after  this  he  died  without  reaching  Germany. 

With  the  accession  of  Hildebrand  to  the  "Roman  Pon- 
tificate as  Gregor}7  VII.,  we  enter  upon  a  new  phase  of 
development.  For  this  daring  statesman  first  definitely 
raised  the  question  of  a  Crusade  or  armed  expedition,  under 
the  sanction  of  the  Christian  Church,  to  recover  the  Holy 
Places  of  Palestine  from  the  Saracens.  The  Byzantine  re- 
conquest  had  been  only  temporary,  and  the  advance  of  the 
Seljuk  Turks  had  driven  back  Eastern  Christendom  into 
narrower  limits  than  ever  before.  Nothing  but  internal 
trouble,  and  particularly  the  quarrel  with  the  Empire,  seems 
to  have  taken  from  Gregory  VII.,  and  given  to  Urban  II., 
the  actual  preaching  and  direction  of  the  expedition  which 
was  planned  for  1075  or  1076,  but  did  not  start  till  1097, 
and  was  indefinitely  postponed,  in  the  opinion  of  most  men, 
by  the  outbreak  of  the  struggle  with  Henry  IV.  and  the 
incident  of  Canossa.  In  the  letters  and  appeals  of  Hilde- 
brand we  may  see,  moreover,  the  natural  development  of  the 
policy  of  a  Holy  War,  entailing  salvation  on  all  who  took 
part  therein.  The  close  of  the  eleventh  century  realises  the 
aspirations  of  Leo  IV.  and  John  VIII.1  Now,  also,  we  may 
see  a  natural  result  of  the  conversion  of  the  Hungarians 
and  the  Northmen ;  events  which  reopened  to  Western 
Europe  the  long-interrupted  land  routes  along  the  Danube 
Valley,  which  furnished  more  direct  means  of  access  to  the 
Levant,  and  which  supplied  a  new  energy  to  Christendom. 
Once  more,  the  end  of  the  First  Millennium  and  the  excite- 

1  John  VIII.  to  the  Bishops  of  Louis  [the  Stammerer],  cf.  p.  118. 


132 


PILGRIM    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


ment  it  had  caused  may  not  have  been  wholly  without  its 
influence  on  the  Crusading  movement.  Many  had  expected 
the  end  of  the  world  with  the  year  1000  ;  the  fatal  era  had 
come  and  gone  without  result ;  but  the  excitement  thus 
aroused  found  a  sedative  in  the  passionate  devotion  of 
pilgrimage  and  an  outlet  in  the  fiercer  delights  of  a  Crusade. 
It  is  therefore  in  the  general  awakening  and  expansive 
vigour 1  of  the  Christendom  of  Hildebrand's  time  that  we 
must  look  for  the  primary  cause  of  the  Crusades.  The 
outrages  of  Hakim,  and  the  tyranny  of  the  new  Seljuk  rule 
at  the  Holy  Places,  were  but  secondary  causes ;  the  victories 
of  the  Spanish  Christians,  and  their  renewed  peril  from  the 
Almoravide  invasion,  only  contributed  what  we  may  call 
details  of  encouragement  or  stimulus;  the  root  of  the  whole 
movement  lay  in  that  new  life  stirring  within  the  Christian 
people,  even  before  the  Council  of  Clermont,  and  finding 
more  and  more  active  expression  in  pilgrim  travel,  in 
merchant  enterprise,  in  revived  scientific  enquiry,  in  an 
unappeasable  and  unmistakable  determination  to  burst  the 
bonds  which  Islam  and  heathendom  had  wound  so  tightly 
around  Latin  civilisation. 

But,  granting  this,  the  secondary  causes  are  none  the 
less  essential.  Because  history  lias  been  often  too  much 
occupied  with  the  more  obvious  and  more  personal  springs 
of  action,  yet  in  this,  as  in  other  epochs,  it  remains  true 
in  the  nature  of  things,  that  historical  wilting  must  always 
deal  more  fully  with  the  clear-cut  incidents  of  secondary 
importance  than  with  the  vaguer  and  more  general,  even 
if  more  vital,  conditions  of  national  or  racial  fitness.  We 
must  recognise  that  the  imminent  danger  of  the  Byzantine 


1  In  10S7  Bari  Mariners  are  si  id 
to  have  stolen  the  body  of  St.  Nicolas 
from  Myra  or  Myrrha,  in  Lyoia  ;  cf. 


the  story  of  the  Venetians  in  the 
ninth  century  carrying  off  St.  Mark's 
body  from  Alexandria, 


HI.]  NEW    ERA    WITH    HILDEBRAND  133 

Empire  from  the  Seljuk  Turks,  the  cruel  treatment  of 
pilgrims  at  the  Holy  Places,  the  preaching  of  Peter  the 
Hermit,  the  critical  events  in  Spain,  the  writings  and  personal 
leadership  of  Hildebrand  and  Urban  II.,  would  have  been 
useless  without  the  revived  strength  and  ambition  of  the 
Christian  peoples  ;  we  may  admit  that  this  revived  strength 
and  ambition  would  perhaps  have  found  their  outlet  in  a 
similar  movement  without  any  of  these  particular  incite- 
ments ;  but,  after  all,  as  events  shaped  themselves,  it  was  the 
sting  of  these  incitements  which  immediately  set  in  motion 
the  hitherto  sluggish  mass  of  Western  Christendom  and 
united  its  long-scattered  forces.  We  must  therefore  look  one 
moment  at  those  events,  or  groups  of  incidents,  which  had 
so  profound  an  effect  on  the  Christian  world  of  the  eleventh 
century. 

First,  in  the  Levant  itself,  the  rise  of  the  Turks  had 
certainly  produced  before  a.d.  1080  a  deep,  dangerous,  and 
irritating  change  in  the  position  and  prospects  of  Oriental 
Christendom,  and  so,  in  a  measure,  of  all  Christians.  As 
early  as  the  time  of  Justinian  the  formidable  power  of 
those  Tartar  tribes  had  caused  Byzantine  statesmen  to  look 
beyond  the  Oxus  for  a  counterpoise  to  their  Persian  enemies. 
But  it  was  in  the  tenth  century  that  the  Turks  first  began 
to  play  a  leading  part  in  the  politics  of  the  nearer  East.  As 
the  Caliphate  of  Bagdad  decayed,  Turkish  soldiers  were 
more  and  more  enlisted  in  its  armies,  and  Turkish  com- 
manders put  in  charge  of  the  palace  and  the  capital,  until 
the  Pontiff  of  Islam  became  a  tool  in  their  hands.  The 
action  of  Al  Eadi  (a.d.  940),  in  creating  the  office  of  Emir  al 
Omra,  or  Military  Vizier,  for  the  chiefs  of  these  Turkish 
bands,  was  a  practical  abdication  of  the  remnants  of  Temporal 
Power  on  the  part  of  the  Bagdad  Caliphate,  and  the  state 
of    things   thus    produced  was    in    many  ways   similar    to 


134  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

that  of  the  old  Prankish  monarchy  in  the  time  of  the  later 
Merwings  and  Charles  Martel.  Finally,  a  new  immigration 
from  Central  Asia  completed  the  change.  In  1055,  the 
Seljuk  Turks,  after  cutting  short  the  dominions  of  the 
Ghaznevides  and  humbling  the  successor  of  Mahmud, 
pressed  into  the  valley  of  the  Tigris,  and  formally  received 
from  the  reigning  Abbasside  all  the  secular  power  of  the 
Commander  of  the  Faithful.  The  new  champions  of  Islam 
soon  cut  short  that  Byzantine  revival  which  in  the  tenth 
and  early  eleventh  centuries  had  restored  so  much  of  the 
monarchy  of  Justinian.1  In  1065-1068  Armenia  and 
Georgia  fell  away  to  the  Seljuk  Empire;  in  1071  a  decisive 
struggle  between  Turks  and  Romans  took  place  at  Manzikert. 
Here  were  lost,  at  one  blow,  all  the  acquisitions  of  the 
last  century  beyond  Mount  Taurus ;  and  this  disaster 
was  followed  by  the  inroads  of  the  Turkish  cavalry  to  the 
shores  of  the  Archipelago,  the  Hellespont,  and  the  Bosphorus. 
Nor  were  these  inroads  transitory.  It  was  now  that  the 
upland  of  Asia  Minor  permanently  became  a  Turkish 
possession  and  a  new  home  of  the  Turkish  race.  This  was 
a  heavier  loss  than  Eastern  Christendom  had  suffered  since 
the  first  conquests  of  the  Saracens ;  and  the  Byzantine 
Empire  was  now  reduced  in  Asia  to  a  narrow  strip  of 
coast,  and  was  forced  to  recognise  by  treaty  the  permanent 
cession  of  Galatia,  Phrygia,  and  the  other  provinces  of  the 
interior.  The  Turkish  outposts  established  at  Nicaea  made 
the  Greeks  tremble  for  the  safety  of  Constantinople  itself ; 
any  year  might  see  a  further  Turkish  advance  into  Europe ; 
and   what    the   Ottomans  achieved   in   the   fourteenth    and 


1  E.g.  Crete,  Cyprus,  most  of 
Northern  Syria,  including  Antioch, 
and  reaching  as  far  South  as  Tripoli, 
Northern  Mesopotamia,  and  a 
suzerainty    over    Armenia.    Georgia, 


Albania,  the  other  regions  of  what 
is  now  the  Trans-Caucasus  Province 
of  Russia  and  the  South  of  the 
Crimea. 


HI.]  NEW    ERA    WITH    HILDEBRAND  135 

fifteenth  centuries  was  threatened  as  no  vague  contingency 
at  the  close  of  the  eleventh. 

Such  was  the  political  problem  facing  Gregory  VII.  when 
he  looked  eastwards ;  and  the  most  sluggish  of  the  states- 
men in  Western  Europe  might  well  think  it  time  to  stir  very 
actively  against  the  impending  approach  of  Islam  to  the 
Adriatic  and  the  Valley  of  the  Danube. 

Secondly,  the  Seljuk  Turks,  in  becoming  masters  of  the 
Abbasside  dominions,  acquired  the  control  of  Palestine. 
The  Holy  Sepulchre  in  Jerusalem  was  now  guarded  by  a 
band  of  Turcomans  ;  and  their  treatment  of  all  Christians, 
both  residents  and  visitors,  was  harsh  and  oppressive. 
Pilgrims  returned  to  the  West  with  terrible  stories  of  insult 
and  cruelty ;  and  the  nations  which  had  tamely  suffered  the 
sacrilege  of  Hakim,  rose  as  one  man  to  avenge  the  wrongs 
proclaimed  by  Peter  of  Amiens. 

Thirdly,  the  political  dangers  and  popular  resentments 
of  the  East  were  reflected  in  the  furthest  West.  After  many 
changes,  it  became  clear,  as  the  eleventh  century  drew  on, 
that  Spanish  Islam  was  declining.  Before  his  death  in 
1002,  the  Vizier  Almanzor  had  restored  the  Mohammedan 
sway  from  Catalonia  to  Galicia ;  but  in  the  next  generation 
the  Christian  Kingdoms  of  Northern  Spain  had  already 
recovered,  and  more  than  recovered,  their  position  as  it  had 
stood  before  the  accession  of  Abderrahman  III.  Meanwhile 
in  1031,  the  Western  Emirate,  or  Caliphate,1  came  with 
startling  suddenness  to  an  end,  after  a  few  years  of  violent 
anarchy,  and  its  dominions  fell  apart  into  various  princi- 
palities. The  result  of  this  was  soon  apparent.  More  and 
more  of  the  Central  Highland  was  won  back  by  the  kings 
of  Leon  and  Castile ;  the  Valley  of  the  Douro  and  the 
western    coast    down   to  Coimbra,  fell  again  into  Christian 

'  'Caliphate'  in  name,  only  from  Abderrahman  III. 


136  PILGKIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

hands;  and  in  1084  Alfonso  VI.  recaptured  the  old 
capital  of  Toledo,  and  became  master  of  the  Upper  Tagus, 
the  natural  heart  of  the  peninsula.  He  was  checked  by 
a  new  and  unexpected  foe.  In  their  despair  the  Spanish 
Moslems  called  in  the  aid  of  that  religious  and  political 
movement  in  North  Africa,  which  is  generally  known  from 
its  '  Marabut,'  or  Prophet,  as  the  '  Almoravide '  Revival.  The 
Moorish  enthusiasts  responded  to  the  appeal,  and  in  1086 
their  leader  Yusuf  Ibn  Tashfin  crossed  over  into  Andalusia 
and  defeated  Alfonso  in  the  battle  of  Zalacca.  Succeeding 
waves  of  Berber  invasion  held  Spanish  Christendom  at  bay 
during  most  of  the  twelfth  century ;  and  after  the  disaster 
of  1086  a  certain  alarm  was  even  felt  lest  Islam  should 
again  advance  to  the  Bay  of  Biscay  and  the  Narbonnese ; 
but  with  the  aid  of  volunteers  from  the  other  kingdoms  of  the 
West  the  new  African  peril  was  stubbornly  faced  and  finally 
repelled.  As  originally  conceived  by  Gregory  VII.  and  his 
successors,  it  is  probable  that  the  Crusading  impulse  was 
directed,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  more  complete  overthrow 
of  Mohammedan  power  in  the  peninsula ;  but  the  em- 
bittered character  of  the  eastern  pilgrim-grievances,  and  the 
extreme  danger  of  the  Byzantine  world,  finally  directed  the 
entire  stress  of  the  new  Christian  armaments  upon  the 
Levant.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  Leon  and  Castile,  Aragon 
and  Portugal,  shared  at  any  rate  in  the  benefits  of  the 
diversion  created  by  the  Syrian  wars,  and  in  the  support 
thus  incidentally  afforded  to  Christian  politics  everywhere ; 
while  several  incidents  of  the  second  and  third  Crusades 
showed  very  effectively  the  strength  and  closeness  of  the 
military  alliance  of  the  Catholic  nations.  Lisbon  and  the 
Algarve  were  both  reconquered  with  the  aid  of  men  from 
Germany,  France,  England,  and  the  Netherlands  on  their 
way  to  Palestine  ;  and  the  close  of  the  Crusading  age  saw 


Ill-]  CAUSES   AND    RESULTS    OF   THE   CRUSADES  137 

the  Latin  warriors  triumphant  in  Spain,  however  unsuccess- 
ful in  the  East. 

Lastly,  without  attaching  too  much  weight  to  the 
Voltairean  innuendo  that  the  Popes  and  the  Clerical  Order 
conceived  and  pressed  on  the  religious  wars  with  the 
object  of  killing  off  the  dangerous  manhood  of  the  Western 
kingdoms,  it  is  undeniable  that  we  must  give  to  the 
Clerical  Order  the  credit  of  organising  and  directing  the 
great  Christian  Jihad.  The  Church  supplied  the  controll- 
ing intelligence ;  its  exchequer  supplied  the  funds  for 
much  that  was  undertaken ;  and,  without  the  ecclesiastical 
inspiration,  the  Crusades,  though  perhaps  in  some  form 
inevitable,  would  have  had  a  very  different  character.  At 
the  same  time,  it  must  be  recognised  that  this  clerical 
inspiration  gave  the  European  nations  of  the  Middle  Age 
their  first  glimpses  of  essential  unity ;  and  that,  along  with 
some  political  reverses,  the  new  federation  of  the  Western- 
World  under  papal  leadership  won  successes  of  the  first- 
order  in  commercial  and  social  progress,  and  certain  negative 
advantages  of  no  small  moment  in  the  military  struggle. 
For  even  if  the  Holy  Land  was  not  finally  recovered,  nor 
the  union  of  Eastern  and  Western  Churches  accomplished, 
yet  Islam  was  checked  for  a  time  in  the  Levant,  and 
permanently  thrown  back  in  Spain ;  the  incursions  of  the 
Turco-Tartar  hordes  into  Europe  by  way  of  Constantinople 
were  postponed ;  and  the  land-travels  of  men  who  started 
from  the  Latin  Kingdoms  of  the  East  led  to  a  decisive  and 
abiding  extension  of  knowledge  and  civilisation.  Thus 
the  indirect,  unexpected,  and  sometimes  unwelcome  results 
of  the  mediaeval  duel  of  Cross  and  Crescent  proved  a  rich 
compensation  for  the  barren  and  abortive  character  of  the 
central  struggle  in  Palestine :  European  life  was  not  im- 
poverished but  enriched  by  the  religious  wars  ;    and  the  only 


138  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ce. 

doubt  must  be  whether  it  was  necessary  through  such 
tribulation  to  enter  into  the  brighter  age  of  the  great 
discoveries. 

Among  the  pilgrim  travellers  who  may  be  traced  between 
the  accession  of  Gregory  VII.  and  the  first  Crusade,  perhaps 
the  most  important  is  the  Anonymous  devotee  x  who  has  left 
us  a  brief  note-book  made  up  partly  of  his  own  observa- 
tions, partly  of  extracts  from  much  older  records.  The 
earlier  sections  of  this  tract  bear  a  close  resemblance 
to  passages  of  the  fourth-century  Bordeaux  Pilgrim,  but 
otherwise  these  jottings  are  almost  without  interest.  The 
'  chamber  covered  with  a  single  stone,'  where  Solomon 
wrote  the  Book  of  Wisdom,  is  a  repetition  from  the  most  ancient 
surviving  type  of  pilgrim-itinerary  ; 2  the  water-pot  of  Mount 
Sinai,  which  incessantly  ran  with  oil,  may  be  compared 
with  a  similar  story  in  Thietmar ; 3  and  in  the  confusion  of 
'  Abraham's  Castle '  at  Hebron  with  a  similar  fortress  at 
Tekoa,  there  is  only  the  repetition  of  what  is  often  met 
with  elsewhere.  It  is,  perhaps,  more  curious  that  this 
work  places  Isaac's  Mount  of  Sacrifice  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Patriarch's  Castle,  a  more  southerly  location 
than  is  given  by  any  other  pilgrim. 

With  this  little  tract  we  leave  the  earlier  Middle  Ages 
and  come  to  the  transition  period  of  the  Holy  Wars.  One 
of  the  last  aggressions  of  the  New  Turkish  Islam  was 
the  reconquest  of  Antioch  in  1084,  after  116  years  of 
Byzantine  rule;  but  in  November,  1095,  the  Council  of 
Clermont  decided  that  the  Will  of  God4  was  the  re- 
covery   of   Jerusalem    and   all   Syria:    in    the   summer   of 


i  Usually  known   a9  '  Innominatus  I        2  E.g.      the      Bordeaux      Pilgrim 
I.,'  the  first  of  a  long  series  of  un-       of  333. 

named    pilgrim    travellers     of    this  i       3  a.d.  1217. 
period,  see  pp.  203-7.  4  Dcus  vult. 


III.]  THE    'FIRST    ANONYMOUS*:     SAEWULP  139 

1096  the  main  host  of  the  Crusaders  set  out  in  five 
divisions ;  Antioch  was  won  in  the  beginning  of  June 
1098;  and  on  the  14th  of  July,  1099,  the  great  object  of 
the  enterprise  was  achieved,  and  the  Cross  was  planted  on 
the  walls  of  Sion.  The  victory  was  followed  by  its  natural 
results,  and  prominent  among  these  was  the  arrival  of 
pilgrims  who  possessed  the  leisure  and  the  ability  to  do 
what  had  not  been  attempted  since  Bernard  the  Wise  gave 
men  a  full  description  in  the  Latin  tongue  of  all  the  Holy 
Places. 

The  earliest  of  this  new  group  of  writers  came  from  a 
remote  country  of  the  West,  the  most  recent  conquest  of  the 
Norman  Dukes  of  Eouen.  This  was  the  Englishman 
Saewulf  or  Saewlf,  a  native  of  Worcester,  certainly  not  the 
first  pilgrim  traveller  who  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  first 
Crusade,  but  the  first  who  has  left  us  the  narrative  of  his 
journey.  He  was  evidently  an  '  Anglo-Saxon,'  not  a  Norman 
or  French  follower  of  the  invaders  of  1066  ;  and  he  pursued 
the  despised  calling  of  a  trader.  At  least  so  we  may  fairly 
gather  from  William  of  Malmesbury's  account.  The  latter 
tells  us  of  one  Saewulf,  a  merchant,  who  was  in  the  habit 
of  confessing  to  Bishop  Wulfstan  of  Worcester  (1062-1096), 
the  last  survivor  of  the  Old  English  Episcopate.  Wulfstan, 
himself  a  man  of  saintly  life,  so  much  respected  that  the 
Norman  policy  of  '  No  more  Saxon  Bishops '  made  an  ex- 
ception of  his  case,  often  urged  the  monastic  vows  upon 
Saewulf,  whose  morals,  he  thought,  needed  stricter  discipline 
But  his  penitent  clung  to  the  freedom  of  his  lay  estate, 
and  the  Bishop  fell  back  on  a  prophecy,  that  the  sinner 
would  in  the  future  eagerly  seek  for  and  embrace  that 
calling  which  he  now  refused  when  offered.  William  the 
chronicler  lived   to  see  the    fulfilment   of    this   prediction, 


140  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

when  in  his  old  age  Saewulf  became  a  monk  in  the  Abbey 
of  Malmesbury.1 

It  was  probably  in  a  fit  of  penitence  that  our  merchant 
undertook  his  pilgrimage,  sometime  before  his  profession  as 
a  monk,  in  the  years  1102  and  1103.  We  can  only  date  the 
journey  from  the  internal  evidence  of  the  narrative,  but  this 
is  circumstantial  enough  for  our  purpose,  and  we  may  con- 
clude with  tolerable  certainty  that  Saewulf's  outward 
journey  was  in  the  summer  of  1102,  and  his  return  in  the 
summer  of  1103.  We  may  even  go  further,  with  the  help 
of  a  fresh  study  of  the  text,  and  say  that  he  started  east- 
wards from  Monopoli  in  Apulia  on  Sunday,  the  13th  of  July, 
1102,  and  that  he  began  his  return  journey  from  Jaffa  on 
the  17th  of  May,  1103. 

The  following  details  support  this  conclusion.  Saewulf 
tells  us  that  Baldwin,  '  the  Flower  of  Kings,'  possessed  Jaffa, 
Haifa,  and  other  places  on  the  Syrian  Coast  at  the  time  of 
his  visit;  now  Baldwin  was  elected  in  succession  to  Godfrey 
of  Bouillon  on  Christmas  Day,  1100.  Again  Tortosa  was 
then  in  the  possession  of  'Duke'  Raymond;  from  other 
sources  we  know  that  the  Count  of  Toulouse  took  this 
city  on  the  12th  of  March,  1102,  almost  three  years  before 
his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  28th  of  February,  1105. 
Once  more,  our  pilgrim  implies,  though  in  a  rather  vague 
and  negative  manner,  that  Acre  was  still  in  the  hands  of 
the  Saracens;  and  this  state  of  things  lasted  till  the  15th  of 
May,  1104.  Fourthly,  Saewulf  left  Monopoli  on  the  'third 
day  before  the  Ides  of  July,'  the  Feast  of  St,  Mildred,  an 
'Egyptian'    or    unlucky    day   for    sailors,   and   a    Sunday; 

1  Cf.  Will.  Malm.,  Gest.  Pontif.,  p.    j   with   seven   other   fragments   of  an- 


282;  T.  Wright,  Biog.  Brit.  Lit., 
Anglo  -  Norman  period,  p.  38. 
In  the  one  existing  MS.  of 
Saewulf,  this  narrative  is  bound  up 


cient  works.  Avezac  suggests  that 
'Saewulf  is  only  a  nickname  from 
frequent  journeys,  like  'Sea-dog,' 
but  this  is  rather  improbable. 


in.]  saewulf's  outward  journey  141 

even  without  the  definite  statement  first  quoted,  we  could 
fix  the  date  here  to  the  13th  of  July  1102,  which  answers 
all  the  other  requirements,  and  which,  with  the  22nd  of 
July,1  was  notoriously  ill-omened,  according  to  the  mediaeval 
calendars.  Lastly,  the  traveller's  embarkation  at  Jaffa,  '  on 
the  Day  of  Pentecost,'  after  the  completion  of  his  journey 
in  the  Holy  Land,  points  to  the  Whitsunday  of  1103  (17th 
May),  as  in  1104  the  festival  occurred  on  the  5th  of  June, 
three  weeks  after  the  fall  of  Acre,  an  event  which  he  would 
scarcely  have  omitted. 

Besides  these  allusions,  hasty  and  slight  enough,  though 
not  without  their  importance,  there  is  little  reference  in 
Saewulf  to  the  events  of  his  time  or  to  the  facts  of  general  in- 
terest in  geography.  He  stops  at  Cephalonia  to  tell  us  that 
there  Robert  Guiscard  died  ; 2  the  great  Norman  conqueror 
was  too  recent  and  too  mighty  a  figure  in  Mediterranean 
history  for  even  a  pilgrim  to  leave  unnoticed ;  and  it  is 
possible  that  Saewulf's  account  of  Constantinople  contained 
more  notices  of  contemporary  men  and  matters.  But  both 
the  openiug  and  the  close  of  the  narrative  appear  to  have 
been  lost. 

As  to  Saewulf's  outward  journey,  we  may  notice  that 
he  does  not  go  by  way  of  Egypt,  for  the  most  obvious 
reasons.  Egypt  was  a  Moslem  country,  whose  people, 
except  for  special  circumstances,  would  naturally  make 
common  cause  with  their  brethren  of  Syria  against  the 
invading  Christians.  In  earlier  times  the  route  through 
Alexandiia  had  been  common  enough,  but  now  Christian 
pilgrims  followed  in  the  wake  of  their  victorious  armies 
and  Meets  along  the  northern  shores,  or  through  the 
northern  waters,  of  the  Mediterranean.  Our  present 
narrative  shows  us  the  traveller  following  the  most  adven- 
1  When  Saewulf  left  'Biandia'  or  Brmdisi.  2  July,  1085. 


142  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

turous  route,  not  troubling  to  take  the  safer  and  longer 
way  by  Constantinople,  but  trusting  to  the  new-grown 
Christian  power  and  trade  at  sea,  and  pressing  directly 
forward  from  Italy  to  the  Ionian  islands,  from  Negropont 
to  Ehodes,  and  from  Rhodes  to  Palestine.  Greece,  on 
the  other  hand,  he  crosses  by  land,  probably  in  preference 
to  the  troublesome  circuit  of  the  Morea  ;  but  the  rest  of  his 
journey  is  on  shipboard.  His  whole  record  demonstrates 
how  great  was  the  recent  increase  of  European  influence 
in  the  Levant,  alike  in  war,  in  commerce,  and  in  pilgrimage. 
Nowhere  is  this  more  clearly  marked  than  in  his  picture 
of  the  great  fleet  at  Jaffa,  laden  with  palmers  and  merchan- 
dise, which  was  destroyed  by  a  tempest  in  that  perilous 
and  unsheltered  roadstead  before  his  eyes. 

Even  the  small  amount  of  land  travel  performed  by 
Saewulf  was  against  his  inclination;  'conscious  of  his 
unworthiness,'  he  is  uncertain  whether  it  was  his  sins, 
or  the  badness  of  his  ship,  that  hindered  him  from  taking 
without  intermission,  the  '  direct  course  of  the  open  sea.' 

Of  the  first  part  of  his  journey — presumably  from 
England  to  South  Italy — he  says  nothing,  and  professes 
only  to  begin  with  a  mention  of  the  different  islands  at 
which  he  touched.  But  his  narrative  really  commences 
with  a  list  of  the  chief  pilgrim  ports — Bari,  Barletta,1 
Siponte  or  Manfredonia,  Trani,  and  Otranto,  the  'entrance- 
harbour'  of  Apulia,  then  and  later  the  favoured  rival  of 
Brindisi  for  the  narrow  passage  from  Italy  to  Albania. 
Saewulf  himself  did  not  make  use  of  any  of  these ;  he 
took  ship  at  the  little  harbour  of  Monopoli,  about  twenty 
miles  from  Bari,  on  Sunday,  the  Feast  of  St.  Mildred  (13th 
July,  1102).  'But,'  he  laments,  'as  we  set  out  at  an 
unlucky   hour,   we    had    not   proceeded    more    than    three 

1  Saewulf s  'Barlo'  or  'Barium,' 


ni.]  saewulf's  outward  journey  143 

miles,  when  the  violence  of  the  waves  wrecked  our  vessel.' 
Refitting  at  Brindisi,  and  once  more  putting  to  sea  with 
strange  persistence  on  an  ill-omened  day,  the  pilgrim  had 
a  stormy  passage  to  the  isthmus  of  Corinth,  by  way  of 
Corfu  (24th  July),  Cephalonia  (1st  August),  and  Patras, 
famous  for  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Andrew.  In  this  '  island  ' 
the  relics  of  the  apostle  had  long  been  kept  before  their 
translation  to  Constantinople ;  here  Saewulf  probably 
refers  to  the  coast  town  near  the  entrance  of  the 
Corinthian  Gulf ;  but,  like  other  mediaeval  writers,  he 
employs  the  term  of  '  isle '  in  a  generous  sense  for  any 
seaboard  place,  without  much  attention  to  the  precisions 
of  geographical  terminology. 

In  Corinth,  where  he  '  suffered  many  hardships,'  the 
traveller  begins  to  notice  St.  Paul's  journeys  and  their 
coincidences  with  his  own  wanderings,  illustrating  these 
by  occasional  explanations  of  singular  perversity.  In  the 
Gulf  of  Corinth  the  sea  route  ended  for  a  time, — after 
Saewulf  had  crossed  to  '  Hosta '  or  Livadostro,  whence  the 
party  made  their  way,  '  some  on  foot,  some  on  asses.'  over 
the  Boeotian  neck  of  land  to  the  Strait  of  Euboea  and  the 
port  of  Negropont  (23rd  August).  On  this  march  they 
passed  by  the  city  of  Thebes,  or  '  Stivas,'  then  celebrated  as  the 
seat  of  the  largest  Jewish  colony  in  the  Byzantine  Empire. 
The  voyage  from  Negropont  brought  Saewulf  into  the 
iEgaean,  and  he  touched  at  a  number  of  islands  and  harbours 
in  his  very  devious  course  upon  these  waters — Petali  or 
Spili,  near  Marathon ;  Andros,  noted  for  its  silk,  samit,  and 
'  sindals '  (thin  shavings  of  gold  and  silver,  from  which 
the  precious  tissues  were  made) ;  Ancho,  or  Cos,  where 
Hippocrates  was  born  (for  so  we  may  correct  the  pilgrim's 
'Galen');  Naxos,  Patmos,  and  Ehodes.  He  does  not 
appear  to  have  visited  Athens,  'where  Paul  preached/  and 


144 


PILGRIM    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


where  a  miraculous  lamp  still  attested  the  sanctity  of 
the.  place,  nor  the  '  notable  island '  of  Crete,  nor  Ephesus, 
'  where  St.  John  entered  the  sepulchre  living ' ;  but  he 
certainly  spent  some  time  at  various  points  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  Archipelago,  including  Cnidus,1  Syra,  Samos, 
Scio,  and  Mitylene.  At  Rhodes  he  stays  a  little  to  tell 
us  of  its  vanished  marvel,  the  '  idol  called  Colossus,'  one 
of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.  This  was  125  feet 
high ;  but  in  spite  of  its  bulk  '  the  Persians  destroyed  it, 
with  nearly  all  the  land  of  Romania,  when  on  their  way 
to  Spain.  These  were  the  Colossians  to  whom  St.  Paul 
wrote.'  This  ingenious  confusion  occurs  in  several  of 
the  later  pilgrims,  who,  like  Saewulf,  mix  up  Colossae  and 
Phrygia  with  the  '  idol  of  Ehodes,'  and  name  the  people 
of  the  country  after  their  great  monument.  But  here 
the  Persians  are  also  confounded  with  the  early  Arabic 
Saracens,  and  the  Levant  conquests  of  the  latter  appear  as 
part  of  the  Moslem  advance  through  North  Africa  into 
the  West  of  Europe.  Saewulf's  Romania  is,  of  course, 
the  Roman  Empire 2  of  the  East,  and  nothing  else ;  it  is 
an  official  and  perfectly  correct  designation;  but  a  very 
slight  knowledge  of  Mohammedan  history  would  have 
reminded  the  traveller  that,  when  the  Arabs  conquered 
Rhodes,  their  capitals  were  at  Mecca  and  Damascus,  that 
Persia  was  then  in  no  way  the  central  country  of  Islam,  and 
that  a  century  was  yet  to  elapse  before  the  foundation  of 
Bagdad.3  Once  more,  the  effects  of  the  great  earthquake 
in    the    third   century    B.C.,   and   the    damage   wrought   by 


1  Lido. 

2  From  his  later  use  of  the  term 
Romania,  it  may  he  that  here  also 
only  the  Asiatic  Provinces  are  in- 
tended. 

3  A.D.    651,   Conquest    of  Rhodes  ; 


a.d.  762,  Foundation  of  Bagdad. 
However,  the  Persians  of  Chosroes 
II.  captured  Rhodes  for  a  moment 
in  616.  This  may  partly  account 
for  Saewulf's  language  here. 


III-l  SAEWULFS    OUTWARD    JOURNEY  145 

subsequent  calamities,  are,  of  course,  forgotten ;  and  the 
ruin  of  the  Colossus  is  imputed  wholly  to  the  infidels 
who  carted  away  for  building  purposes  the  remains  of 
the  fallen  statue  in  the  seventh  century  after  Christ, 
under  the  first  Ommeyad  Caliph  Moawiyah. 

From  Rhodes  Saewulf  made  his  way  to  Patara  in 
Lycia,  the  home  of  St.  Nicolas,  and  one  of  the  resting- 
places  of  the  English  pilgrim  Willibald  'during  the  rigour 
of  the  winter'  of  722.  Not  far  off  was  the  town  of  Myra, 
where  the  Wonder-worker  had  his  bishopric  and  became 
famous  throughout  the  Orient  of  the  fourth  century.  Here 
the  saint  died  and  was  buried  in  the  year  342  ;  but  his 
relics  had  been  translated  to  Bari  shortly  before  the  time 
of  Saewulf  (a.d.  1087),  perhaps  to  escape  desecration  at 
the  hands  of  the  advancing  Turks.  Now,  at  the  opening 
of  the  twelfth  century,  Myra  was  an  important  harbour, 
the  anchorage-in-chief  for  the  shipping  of  the  '  Adriatic ' 
or  Eastern  Mediterranean,  just  as  Constantinople  was  for 
the  marine  of  the  /Egaean  Sea.  Here,  again,  the  English 
traveller  reproduces  a  common  usage  of  his  time ;  exactly 
the  same  meaning  is  attached  to  the  'Adriatic'  Sea  by 
Matthew  Paris  and  many  other  writers  of  the  central 
mediaeval  period.  Near  Patara  Saewulf  describes  an 
entirely  desolate  town  » called  '  Mogronissi,1  or  the  Long 
Island  of  St.  Mary,'  which,  from  its  churches  and  other 
buildings,  appeared  to  have  been  inhabited  by  the  Christians 
after  they  had  been  driven  by  the  Turks  from  '  Alexandria,' 
or  Alexandretta,  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Scanderoon.  This 
Long  Island  was  perhaps  the  modern  Kakava,  on  the  west 
side  of  which  Avezac  has  pointed  out  the  ruins  of  a 
church  and  town  ;  Saewulf's  remark  is  one  more  evidence 
of   the   changes  wrought  by  the  recent  advance   of   Islam 

1  Makro-nesos. 
K 


146  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

under  the  devastating  leadership  of  the  Seljuk  Turks. 
After  worshipping  at  the  Sepulchre  of  St,  Nicolas,  the 
pilgrim  sailed  to  the  '  Island  called  Xindacopo,1  or  Sixty 
Oars,  on  account  of  the  force  of  the  sea ' ;  this  is  apparently 
the  ancient  Chelidonia  at  the  south  end  of  Finica  Bay, 
and  from  this  point  Saewulf  took  to  the  open  sea,  and 
crossed  the  broad  part  of  the  'Adriatic'  to  Paffus,  Paphos 
or  Paffo,2  in  the  island  of  Cyprus.  Another  long  voyage 
out  of  sight  of  land  brought  the  wanderer,  after  seven  days, 
to  the  coast  of  Palestine ;  one  night  the  stormy  weather 
forced  his  ship  almost  back  to  Cyprus ;  but  at  last  the 
sunrise  of  the  eighth  day  displayed  the  shore  of  the  port 
of  Jaffa,  and  with  extraordinary  and  unexpected  joy  he 
landed  in  Syria  on  Sunday,  the  12th  of  October,  1102.  His 
journey  from  Monopoli  had  consumed  no  less  than  thirteen 
weeks,  and  all  the  time  he  had  '  dwelt  on  the  waves  of 
the  sea,  or  in  islands  or  deserted  cots  and  sheds,'  hoping 
in  vain  for  the  hospitality  of  the  suspicious  and  unfriendly 
Greeks. 

On  the  advice  of  one  who  spoke,  as  Saewulf  afterwards 
believed,  by  divine  inspiration,  the  pilgrim  went  on  shore 
at  once,  and  thus  escaped  a  terrible  visitation.  Next  morn- 
ing, as  he  returned  from  church,  he  heard  the  roaring  of  the 
sea  and  the  shouts  of  the  people.  Dragged  along  with  the 
crowd  to  the  shore,  he  saw  waves  swelling  higher  than 
mountains,  and  countless  bodies  of  the  drowned  scattered 
over  the  beach,  while  fragments  of  ships  were  floating  on 
every  side.  The  rage  of  the  sea  and  the  crashing  of  the 
vessels  drowned  the  clamour  of  the  spectators.  '  Our  own 
ship,  being  very  large  and  strong,  and  others  laden  with 


1  Apparently  a  corruption  of  e^-q- 
Kovra  KcoTrai  shortened  to  '£ojt<x 
Kwiral. 

2  Here  Saewulf  makes  a  short  ex- 


cursion into  the  History  of  the  Early 
Church,  the  Mission  of  Barnabas,  and 
the  life  of  St.  Peter,  confusing  Acts 
xiii.  2-4  with  Acts  xv.  22. 


IH.]  SAEWULF    AT    JAFFA:    THE    STORM  147 

corn  and  merchandise,  or  with  pilgrims  going  and  returning, 
still  held  by  their  anchors ;  but  how  they  were  tossed  by  the 
waves,  how  the  crews  were  filled  with  terror,  how  they  cast 
overboard  their  merchandise.  What  eye  could  refrain  from 
tears  ? '  Before  long  the  ships  were  driven  from  their  anchors 
by  the  violence  of  the  waves,  which  threw  them,  now  up 
aloft,  now  down  below,  until  they  were  hurled  upon  the 
rocks,  and  there  beaten  to  and  fro  till  they  were  dashed  all 
to  pieces.  '  For  the  violence  of  the  wind  would  not  allow 
them  to  put  out  to  sea,  and  the  nature  of  the  coast  did  not 
permit  them  to  put  in  to  shore.  Among  the  sailors  and 
pilgrims  who  had  lost  all  hope  of  safety  some  remained  on 
the  ships;  others  laid  hold  of  the  masts  or  beams  of  wood; 
many,  in  a  state  of  stupor,  were  drowned  without  any 
attempt  to  save  themselves.  Some  (incredible  as  this  may 
seem),  before  my  very  eyes,  had  their  heads  knocked  off  by 
the  rafters  to  which  they  clung  for  safety;  while  others 
were  swept  out  to  sea  on  the  beams  which  they  hoped  would 
wash  them  to  land.  Even  those  who  could  swim  had  not 
strength  to  battle  with  the  waves,  and  very  few  who  thus 
trusted  their  own  power  reached  the  shore  alive.  Thus,  out 
of  thirty  very  large  ships,  of  which  some  were  (as  they  call 
them)  Dromunds,  some  GuWfres,  and  some  Cats,  scarce  seven 
were  saved.  Of  men  and  women  there  perished  more  than 
a  thousand.' 

All  the  chief  kinds  of  twelfth-century  vessel  were  here 
represented,  and  all  alike  suffered  severely,  an  incidental 
penalty  of  the  new  spirit  of  naval  enterprise  which  was 
drawing  the  marine  of  the  Italian  and  Provencal  cities,  with 
such  force  and  suddenness,  to  the  new  homes  of  Chris: ian 
power  in  the  Levant.  The  Byzantine  Emperor,1  at  this 
very  time  was  famous  for  his  navy  of  Dromunds  or  light 
1  Alexius  Comnenus. 


148  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

galleys ;  these  ships  appear  to  have  been  biremes,  each  tier 
of  oars  having  twenty-five  benches,  and  each  bench  two 
rowers  ;  while  the  Cats  of  the  narrative  have  been  conjectured 
to  resemble  a  modern  Norwegian  collier  with  a  narrow 
stern,  projecting  quarters,  and  deep  waist.  With  the  mis- 
fortunes and  terrors  of  Saewulfs  companions  we  may 
contrast  the  good  luck  and  daring  valour  of  Godric  the 
Pirate,  a  native  of  the  same  distant  land  as  the  Worcester 
pilgrim,  who,  a  few  years  later,  fought  his  way  through  the 
Saracen  fleet,  outside  the  same  perilous  roadstead,  with  a 
spear-shaft  for  his  banner. 

From  Jaffa  Saewulf  went  up  to  Jerusalem  by  a  road 
which  he,  like  Daniel  of  Kiev,  found  '  mountainous,  rough, 
and  dangerous  on  account  of  the  Saracens,  who  lay  in  wait 
in  the  caves  of  the  hills  to  surprise  the  Christians.'  These 
brigands  were  swift  and  subtle  in  their  movements :  at  one 
moment  you  saw  them  on  every  side ;  at  another  they  were 
nowhere  to  be  seen.  On  this  road  many  travellers  perished, 
poor  and  weak,  rich  and  strong  alike ;  many  cut  off  by  the 
Saracens,  more  by  heat  and  thirst ;  many  from  want  of 
drink,  more  from  too  much  drinking.  The  Kingdom  of 
Jerusalem  was  now  only  in  its  third,  year,  and  Acre  and 
Ascalon  (or  Askelon)  were  still  Moslem  citadels.  It  was 
little  wonder,  then,  that  roads  were  still  unsafe.  Entering 
the  Holy  City  from  the  west,  under  the  citadel  of  King  David, 
by  the  Gate  of  David  (or  of  Jaffa)>  Saewulf  first  visited  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  '  built  by  the  Archbishop  Maximus,  with  the 
patronage  of  the  Emperor  Constantine,  after  the  discovery 
of  the  Lord's  Cross.'  Like  the  Eussian  Daniel,  he  notices  that 
the  church  was  open  to  the  sky  ;  it  was  situated,  he  avers,  on 
the  slope  of  Mount  Sion. 

This  was  the  third  Christian  building  which  had  marked 
the  great  scenes  of  the  Crucifixion  and  Eesurrection ;    the 


III.]  SAEWULF    IN   JERUSALEM  149 

first,  that  of  Helena  or  of  Constantine,  had  been  destroyed 
by  Chosroes  and  his  Persians,  the  '  Pagans '  of  Saewulf,  in 
614;  the  second  had  been  demolished  by  Hakim  Biamrillah 
in  1010;  the  third,  standing  in  the  traveller's  day,  was  an 
erection  of  the  years  1020-1026.  Saewulf  makes  no  clear 
distinction  between  these,  and  seems  to  think  that  what  he 
visited  was  the  original  foundation  of  the  fourth  century ; 
both  here  and  elsewhere  he  was  apparently  at  the  mercy  of 
the  Syrian  or  '  Assyrian '  Christians  who  undertook  the 
duty  or  the  pleasure  of  guiding  or  misguiding  the  ignorant 
but  eager  and  credulous  pilgrims  from  the  West. 

In  Jerusalem  Saewulf  displays  a  good  deal  of  learning, 
often  without  any  close  relation  to  fact.  Titus  and 
Vespasian  destroyed  Jerusalem  to  revenge  Christ.  Hadrian 
first  extended  the  city  westwards  to  the  Tower  of  David. 
Justinian  was  said  by  some  to  have  rebuilt  the  town  and 
the  Temple  of  the  Lord,  but  this  was  not  true,  according  to 
the  witness  of  the  Assyrians.  The  ordinary  relics  and  holy 
sites  are  elaborately  described  by  our  pilgrim.  He  quotes 
the  sentences x  of  Augustine  on  the  question  of  Adam's 
burial,  not  at  Golgotha,  but  at  Hebron ;  and  he  locates 
Abraham's  sacrifice  of  Isaac,  not  on  Moriah,  but  on  Calvary. 
One  geographical  monument  is  especially  noticed. 

At  the  '  head '  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  in  the 
outside  wall,  and  not  far  from  the  place  of  Calvary,  was  the 
spot  called  Compas,  which  our  Lord  Himself  signified  and 
measured  with  His  own  hands  as  the  middle  of  the  world, 
according  to  the  Psalmist's  words  :  For  God  is  my  King  of  old, 
working  salvation  in  the  midst  of  the  earth? 

1  Not  in  the  standard  collection  of  distributed  among  the  sons  of  Noah, 

these  sentences  by  Prosper  of  Aqui-  I    and   of  Sheni    burying  the  head  in 

taine.     This  story  of  Saewulf's  is  per-  Judaea, 

haps  derived  from  James  of  Edessa,  2  Ps.  lxxiii.  12. 
who  talks  about  Adan.'s  bones  being 


150  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

Thus  we  find  the  same  legends  supported  by  the  same 
texts  in  the  sixth,  the  seventh,  and  the  twelfth  centuries ; 
and,  from  Saewulfs  time,  the  centre  of  the  world  at  Jerusalem, 
as  a  definite  object  which  could  be  seen  and  touched,  became 
more  and  more  a  fixed  article  of  common  belief ;  most  of  the 
anonymous  pilgrims  of  the  next  centuries  reproduce  the 
story  in  exact  verbal  agreement ;  and  with  the  Byzantine- 
Latin  sketch  of  1110  the  same  feature  begins  to  appear  in 
mediaeval  maps.  Reverence  for  tradition  allied  itself  with 
convenience  ;  and  thus  Com/pas,  late  into  the  fifteenth  century, 
was  retained  as  the  favourite  umbilical  spot. 

In  the  Temple  area  Saewulf  professes  to  recognise  the 
Beautiful  Gate  and  the  site  of  Bethel.1  The  Holy  of  Holies, 
he  learnt,  was  in  the  hollow  underneath  the  Bock  of  Sacrifice  ; 
there,  too,  the  Lord,  wearied  with  the  insolence  of  the  Jews, 
was  accustomed  to  hide  and  to  repose  Himself ;  and  there 
were  to  be  seen  the  footsteps  of  the  Son  of  God. 

As  to  the  Golden  Gate  on  the  east  side  of  the  temple 
area,  Saewulf  relates  the  story  of  Heraclius'  entering  here, 
with  the  Lord's  Cross,  on  his  victorious  return  from  Persia, 
when  'the  stones  fell  down  and  closed  the  passage,  until, 
humbling  himself  at  the  admonition  of  an  angel,  he  de- 
scended from  his  horse,  and  so  the  entrance  was  opened 
unto  him.' 

Near  the  Holy  Sepulchre  was  the  famous  monastery  of 
St.  John  the  Baptist,  the  centre  and  home  of  the  Order  of 
the  Hospital  which  drew  its  first  origin  from  a  small  founda- 
tion of  some  pious  merchants  of  Amalfi  in  the  middle  of  the 
eleventh  century  (a.d.  1048),  and  assumed  its  military 
character  (in  1118)  shortly  after  the  visit  of  Saewulf. 
In  this  memorable  year  the  Order  of  the  Temple  also  took 

1  We    may   contrast    Saewulfs   uncritical   talk    about  Bethel   with    the 
accurate  remarks  of  John  of  Wiirzburg. 


III.] 


SAEWULF    IN    JERUSALEM 


151 


definite  shape ;  but  the  name  of  the  greater  society  does 
not  occur  in  our  present  narrative ;  and  this  omission, 
coupled  with  the  reference  to  the  earlier  and  less  celebrated 
Hospital,  in  its  primitive  formr  is  another  confirmation  of 
our  traveller's  date,  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  twelfth 
century. 

The  name  of  JElm  (or  '  Helias ')  for  Jerusalem,  we  are  told, 
was  interpreted  by  some  as  meaning  '  House  of  God ' ;  this 
Hebrew  fable  is  accompanied  by  some  Christian  legends 
hardly  less  wild,  such  as  that  of  St.  John  as  the  first  holder 
of  the  'Pontificate'  of  Jerusalem,  or  of  St.  Saba1  as  one  of 
the  '  Seventy-two  disciples  of  the  Lord.'  The  '  Chapel  of 
Galilee '  on  the  summit  of  Mount  Olivet,  the  '  place  of 
Galilee '  on  Mount  Sion,  the  '  great  city 2  of  Galilee '  by 
Mount  Tabor,  Nazareth  on  the  Lake  of  Tiberias,  the  Garden 
of  Abraham  in  Jericho,  the  Bethlehem  cistern  wherein  the 
star3  of  the  Magi  fell  (according  to  the  report  of  some), 
are  balanced,  as  instances  of  pious  fable,  by  Saewulf's 
matter-of-fact  relations  about  the  tombs  of  Jerome,  Paula 
and  Eustochium,  and  the  St.  Saba  monastery  with  its  300 
inmates.  Most  of  these  religious  men  had  been  slain  by  the 
Saracens  a  short  time  before  Saewulf's  visit,  and  the  survivors 
had  fled  to  a  convent  of  the  same  name  (also  noticed  by 
Daniel  of  Kiev)  within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  near  the 
Tower  of  David  and  the  Jaffa  Gate. 

Saewulf's  description  of  the  sites  of  Hebron  is  especially 
detailed  and  interesting;  he  enlarges  on  the  ancient  work- 
manship of  the  patriarchal  tombs  and  the  smell  of  the 
precious    aromatics    in    the    same,   the    strong    castle    that 


1  St.  Saba  died  5th  December,  532, 
aged  94. 

2  Cana  (?) 

3  In  Willibald   the    figure   of  the 


star  is  reflected  in  a  well,  c.  12.  The 
Saewulfian  form  of  the  story  occurs 
also  in  Mandeville. 


152  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

surrounded  the  sacred  monuments,  and  the  humbler  burial- 
place  of  Joseph  at  the  extremity  of  the  fortress. 

In  a  digression  upon  the  Jordan  the  pilgrim  gives  us  a 
characteristic  piece  of  his  geographical  phraseology  :  '  On  this 
side  of  the  river  Judaea  extends  to  the  Adriatic  Sea,  to  the  port 
of  Joppa  ;  on  the  other  side  is  Arabia,  hostile  to  Christians  and 
hateful  to  all  who  worship  God,  but  possessing  the  mount 
whence  Elijah  was  carried  into  Heaven  in  a  fiery  chariot.' 
Our  pilgrim  seems  to  have  visited  the  Ghor  in  the  Jericho 
region,  after  which  he  went  North  to  Sichem,  Haifa, 
Nazareth,  and  Cana  of  Galilee,  where  nothing  was  left  standing 
except  the  '  Monastery  called  after  Architriclinius.'  Here 
again  Saewulf  preserves  a  characteristic  mediaeval  corruption, 
which,  copied  by  hosts  of  later  writers,  appears  (among 
others)  in  several  of  the  Anonymous  pilgrims  and  in  John 
of  Wiirzburg  ;  and  thus  the  '  Euler  of  the  Feast,'  named  after 
his  title x  becomes  the  patron  saint  of  a  celebrated  con- 
vent and  an  important  figure  in  the  literature  of  mediaeval 
Christian  devotion.  Mount  Tabor,  '  covered  in  a  marvellous 
manner  with  grass  and  flowers,'  rose  in  the  middle  of  the 
green  plain  of  Galilee,  overtopping  all  the  mountains  which 
surrounded  it.  On  the  summit  Saewulf  notices  the  three 
tabernacles  or  monasteries  described  by  earlier  visitors ;  and 
from  this  point  the  narrative  now  takes  us  six  miles  to  the 
Sea  of  Galilee,  and  so,  after  some  wanderings,  to  Mount 
Libanus.  At  the  foot  of  this  the  Jordan  boiled  out  in  a 
very  rapid  stream  from  the  two  fountains  of  Jor  and  Dan, 
and  far  into  its  last  home  in  the  Dead  Sea  the  milky  waters 
of  the  river,  whiter  than  any  other,  could  be  distinguished 
by  their  colour. 

And    so    we   come    to    the    return    journey.     '  Having 
worshipped  to  the  best  of  our  power,'  concludes  Saewulf,  '  at 

1  As  given  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  iii.  8,  9. 


HI]      SAKWDLF    IN    PALESTINE:    RETURN    JOURNEY      153 

all  the  holy  places  in  Jerusalem  and  round  about,  we  took 
ship  at  Joppa,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost'  (1103);  but  fearing 
to  meet  with  Saracen  rovers  in  the  open  sea,  the  ship's 
captain  sailed  close  along  the  shore,  past  various  port-towns, 
some  yet  unconquered,  some  newly  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
the  Franks.  Among  the  latter  were  Azotum l  or  Arsuf, 
Caesarea,  Cayphas  or  Haifa,  and  Tortosa ;  among  the  former 
Tyre,  Sidon,  Acre,  Byblus  or  Jebeil,  Beyrout,  Antaradus, 
Tripolis,  Laodicea  or  Latakiyeh,  and  Gabala  or  Gibel,  '  where 
are  the  mountains  of  Gilboa.'  But  in  spite  of  their  caution 
the  travellers  did  not  quite  escape.  Between  Acre  and 
Haifa,  under  the  lee  of  Mount  Carmel,  they  sighted  a  large 
Saracen  fleet,  led  by  the  Admiral  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  who 
was  '  carrying  an  army  to  Babylonia  to  assist  the  Chaldaeans 
in  making  war  on  Jerusalem.'  For  the  Fatimites  of  Cairo 
were  now  sending  relief  to  their  brethren  in  Ascalon,  hard 
pressed  by  King  Baldwin  ;  just  as  on  the  Northern  frontier 
the  Moslems  were  recovering  from  their  defeats,  attacking 
Edessa,  and  besieging  the  Norman  Bohemond  in  his  own 
conquest  of  Antioch.  With  his  usual  recklessness  Saewulf 
confuses  the  mediaeval  Babylon  of  Egypt  with  the  Scriptural 
Babylon  of  the  Chaldees,  and  the  enterprises  of  Moslems  in 
the  twelfth  century  with  the  expeditions  of  various  heathen 
enemies  of  the  Chosen  People  before  the  Christian  Era.  All 
was  one  to  him. 

But  in  the  present  crisis  matters  at  first  were  threaten- 
ing ;  the  Christians  could  only  muster  three  vessels  ;  and 
two  of  these,  full  of  unwarlike  and  timid  palmers,  incon- 
tinently made  off  to  Caesarea,  disappearing  with  unpleasant 
speed  round  the  great  headland  of  Carmel ;  but  their  flight 
did  not  dismay  the  men  of  the  Dromund,  in  which  Saewulf 

1  The    ancient    Apollonia,    north   I    Azotus  or  Ashdod  to   the  south    of 
of  Jaffa,    not   to    he    confnsed  with   |   Jaffa, 


154  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

had  trusted  himself.  In  all  they  numbered  two  hundred 
warriors,  and  they  were  determined  not  to  yield  without  a 
struggle.  The  ship's  stern-castle  was  garrisoned  and  every- 
thing made  ready  for  so  stout  a  defence,  that  the  infidels  went 
on  their  way.  It  was  not  the  first  or  the  last  time  that  a 
brave  countenance  proved  the  remedy  in  a  desperate  case. 

This  was  on  the  Wednesday  after  Pentecost ;  and  eight 
days  later,  striking  across  the  open  sea  to  Cyprus,  the 
wanderers  arrived  at  St.  Andrew's  Haven,  near  the  north- 
east extremity  of  the  island.  Thence  they  reached  the 
mainland  of  Asia  Minor,  and  coasted  along  to  Ehodes, 
passing  Antiochetta,  Myra,1  Satalia,  and  many  other  ports, 
and  narrowly  escaping  capture  by  pirates  and  shipwreck  by 
sudden  tempests.  Hiring  a  smaller  vessel  at  Rhodes,  on 
the  23rd  of  June,  that  they  might  proceed  more  rapidly, 
they  hastened  on  to  Constantinople,  touching  at  Stromlo, 
the  ancient  Astypalaea,  '  a  fair  city  entirely  wasted  by  the 
Turks,'  Scio,  where  they  changed  their  bark  again,  and 
Tenit  or  Tenedos,  near  which,  on  the  coast  of  'Romania,' 
was  the  ancient  and  renowned  city  of  Troy.  Saewulf  learnt 
from  his  Greek  informants  that  the  ruins  of  this  place  were 
still  visible  over  a  space  of  many  miles  ;  but  he  did  not 
land  here,  any  more  than  at  the  'great  town  of  Smyrna,' 
which  he  also  passed  at  a  distance,  and  briefly  noticed  in 
his  narrative,  now  shrunken  to  a  series  of  very  meagre  jot- 
tings. Coasting  along  the  Troad,  Saewulf  entered  the  narrow 
sea  which  the  Ancient  World  knew  as  the  Hellespont,  and 
the  Middle  Ages  as  the  Strait  of  St.  George.  In  the  pilgrim's 
language,  it  divided  the  two  lands  of  Romania  and  Macedonia, 
and  through  the  narrow  passage  he  sailed  towards  Byzan- 
tium, '  having  Greece  on  the  right  and  Macedonia  on  the 

1  Stamirra      here.        This,      like   I    corruption    of   Myra    or    Myrrha    in 
Astamirle,  was  a  regular  mediaeval  |   Lycia. 


II'.]  SAEWULF'S    RETURN:    DANIEL    OF    KIEV  155 

left.'  The  new  meaning  here  given  to  '  Greece,'  as  if 
synonymous  with  Mysia,  is  even  more  strange  than  the 
arbitrary  limitation  of  the  terms  Romania  and  Macedonia, 
the  one  to  Asiatic,  the  other  to  the  European,  provinces  of 
the  Byzantine  Empire.  In  the  Dardanelles  the  traveller 
notices  the  'keys'  of  Constantinople,  St.  Phemius1  and 
Samthe,  perhaps  the  ancient  Eleonta  and  Xanthos,  so  close 
together,  though  on  opposite  sides  of  the  Strait,  that  two 
or  three  bow  shots  would  reach  across.  Here,  then,  the 
capital  was  almost  impregnable  from  the  sea.  Saewulf  passed 
the  'Arm  of  St.  George'  about  Michaelmas  time  in  1103,  and 
soon  after  this  festival  he  arrived  at  Rodosto 2  with  the  weari- 
some experience  of  some  four  months'  voyage  from  Jaffa. 

Our  pilgrim  was  now  close  to  Constantinople,  and  before 
returning  to  his  home  he  wished  to  perform  his  devotions  in 
the  capital  of  Eastern  Christendom  ;  but  his  narrative  breaks 
off  abruptly  at  the  '  noble'  place  of  Eaclea  or  Heraclea,  the 
modern  Eregli,  on  the  north  shore  of  the  sea  of  Marmora, 
'  whence,  as  the  Greeks  say,  Helen  was  carried  off  by  Paris 
Alexander.' 

With  Abbot  Daniel  of  Kiev  we  come  upon  a  new  line 
of  pilgrim  travel.  He  is  not  the  earliest  Russian  devotee 
whose  journey  to  the  Holy  Land  has  been  recorded.  For 
among  instances  of  this  tendency  we  have  some  unnamed 
examples  of  1022,3  and  the  mention  of  St.  Varlaam,  Abbot4 
of  the  Lavra  of  Kiev,  under  the  year  1062.  But  no  record, 
journal,  or  note-book,  kept  by  a  Russian  traveller  of  this 
age   has   yet  been  found.5     Daniel,  at  the   opening  of  the 

1  'St.  Phemius  the  bishop.'     Ap-  ^'YlyovfjAvos — Abbot  or  Prior,  which 
parently   a   mistake   for    the    Virgin       is  a! so  Daniel's  title. 

and  Martyr  Euphemia.  5  Cf.    H.    M.    Hagenmayer,  Ekke- 

2  'Rothostoca'  in  Saewulf.  hardi  uraugunsis  abbatis  '  Hicrosoly- 

3  Mentioned   in    the  life  of  Theo-  mite'— Tubingen,  1877,  pp.  .360-362. 
dosius  of  Kiev.  I 


156  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

twelfth  century,  is  the  oldest  Eussian  author,  sacred  or 
secular,  who  has  described  a  journey  from  his  country  to 
any  part  of  the  outer  world.  More  than  that,  he  is 
among  the  very  earliest  names  in  Eussian  literature  of  any 
sort.  Part  of  'Nestor's'  chronicle  (a.d.  1066-1115)  maybe 
some  ten  or  fifteen  years  older,  or  even  more ;  but  the  father 
of  Russian  history  is  Daniel's  only  important  predecessor. 
The  present  narrative  was  evidently  much  valued  by  our 
pilgrim's  countrymen,  for  seventy-five  manuscripts  of  it 
exist,  the  oldest  being  of  a.d.  1-475. 

Daniel's  pilgrim  record  may  be  fixed  to  the  years  1106-7, 
with  fair  probability,  from  internal  evidence.  For  one 
thing,  he  tells  us  that  his  journey  was  in  the  reign  of  the 
Grand  Prince  (Michael  or)  Mikhail  Sviatopolk,  son  of  Isiaslav 
and  grandson  of  Yaroslav  the  Law-giver,  who  ruled  at  Kiev 
from  1093  to  1113.  Again,  he  has  a  good  deal  to  say  of 
his  intercourse  with  Baldwin,  King  of  Jerusalem  from  1100 
to  1118,  and  of  the  peculiar  kindness  shown  him  by  the 
Latin  Prince.  Thirdly,  he  notices  that  when  he  passed 
through  the  Holy  Land,  Acre  belonged  to  the  Franks.  It 
was  taken  by  them  on  the  26th  of  May,  1104,  so  Daniel's 
visit  must  have  been  subsequent  to  this  and  to  the  time 
of  Saewulf's  departure.  Fourthly,  he  claims  to  have  accom- 
panied Baldwin  on  his  expedition  against  Damascus ;  this 
appears  to  have  been  undertaken  not  earlier  than  1106  or 
later  than  1108.  These  are  the  chief  marks  of  time.  But 
it  may  also  be  remembered  that  Daniel,  in  his  careful  de- 
scription of  the  miracle  of  the  Holy  Fire  on  Easter  Eve, 
makes  no  allusion  to  any  Latin  Patriarch,  but  puts  one  of 
the  Prankish  bishops  into  the  place  which,  as  we  know  from 
other  sources,1  was  usually  assigned  to  his  superior.  This 
coincides    with   the    well-attested    fact    that    there   was   no 

1  Especially  Fuleher  of  Chartres, 


in.]  Daniel's  narrative:  its  value  157 

Latin  Patriarch  at  the  date  of  Easter,  1107  ;  for  the  See 
was  then  vacant.  Dagobert  left  the  Holy  City  in  1103; 
and  Ebremar,  his  substitute,  also  started  for  Home  towards 
the  end  of  1106.  Once  more,  Daniel  specially  mentions  the 
dangers  from  the  Saracen  outpost  at  Ascalon  to  Christian 
troops  and  travellers  in  Syria ;  and  in  this  some  have  seen 
not  only  a  general  statement,  but  a  particular  reference  to 
an  attack  of  the  Ascalon  Moslems  upon  some  passing 
Christians  on  the  way  between  Jaffa  and  Jerusalem,  in  the 
year  which  saw  the  abortive  commencement  of  the  siege  of 
Sidon  (1107).1  Our  next  pilgrim,  King  Sigurd  of  Norway, 
helped  (as  we  shall  see),  to  bring  this  enterprise  to  a  suc- 
cessful end  in  1110. 

Daniel  was  the  abbot,2  or  in  modern  Greek-Church 
phrase,  the  Archimandrite,  of  a  Russian  monastery,  whose 
name  and  position  are  unknown.  From  his  reference  to  the 
River  Snov,  a  tributary  of  the  Desna,  which  flows  into  the 
Dniepr  by  Kiev,  we  may  conjecture  that  his  home  was  in 
the  Province  of  Tchernigov.  Some  have  identified  him  with 
a  certain  Daniel,  who  was  Bishop  of  Suriev  in  1115,  and  died 
on  9th  September  1122.  In  any  case,  he  was  closely  con- 
nected with  the  Mother  of  Russian  Cities,  when  at  the 
height  of  her  power  and  splendour,  a  good  half-century 
before  her  first  overthrow  in  1169.  The  Eastern  Slavs  had 
been  making  steady  progress  since  the  migration  of  Rurik 
and  his  Scandinavians  to  Old  Novgorod  in  the  ninth 
century.3  The  reigns  of  Oleg,  who  established  the  'Varan- 
gian '  power  in  Kiev ;  of  Igor  and  Sviatoslav,  the  great 
pagan  Rurikides,  feared  even  at  the  Court  of  the  Eastern 
Empire ;    and    of    Vladimir    the    Saint   and    Yaroslav    the 

1  Of.    William    of    Tyre,    and   Des   \       "  Hegotimenos  or  '  Igumen.' 
choses  avenues  cnJatcrre  d'Outremer,    \       3  Traditionally,  a.d.  862. 
xi.    4,  Paris,  1879,  vol.    i.  384. 


158  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  IP«-. 

Legislator,  who  brought  their  country  within  the  pale 
of  Christian  civilisation,  were  glorious  memories  of  Daniel's 
countrymen,  even  at  this  early  time.  Nor  were  these 
memories  only  of  war  and  conquest,  of  victory  over  heathen 
enemies,  or  of  daring  raids  upon  the  Imperial  City  on  the 
Bosphorus.  The  Russia  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  cen- 
turies, though  loosely  knit  in  political  organisation,  was  now 
a  different  thing  from  the  barbarian  country  a  described  by 
Ibn  Foslan  and  the  other  Arab  explorers  200  years  before. 
Jury  trial,  justices  in  assize,  and  other  refinements  of  the 
higher  mediaeval  society,  it  had  developed  in  a  manner 
closely  similar  to  the  lines  of  western  progress.  On  the 
other  hand,  its  Church  and  faith  and  architecture,  its  code 
of  manners  and  morals,  came  to  it  from  the  Byzantines. 
When  Abbot  Daniel  started  on  his  journey,  few  could  have 
suspected  the  weakness  of  the  Russian  States  which  seemed 
so  flourishing,  so  continuous  in  the  advance  of  their  pros- 
perity and  power.  The  next  generations  were  yet  to  show 
the  fatal  effects  of  a  weak  and  doubtful  centre,  of  divided 
sovereignty,  of  unchecked  feudalism  in  government. 

The  field  covered  by  Daniel's  pilgrimage  was  much  wider 
than  that  of  most  western  devotees.  Had  he  but  recorded 
the  early  stages  of  his  journey  from  the  middle  Dniepr,  his 
work  might  perhaps  have  risen  into  the  primary  class  of 
mediaeval  travel  narratives.  Even  as  it  is,  we  must  recog- 
nise the  value  of  those  glimpses  of  Eastern  Europe  which 
he  gives  us,  those  allusions  to  the  pre-Mongolian  princi- 
palities of  Eussia,  whose  life  was  so  sternly  cut  short  just 
a  century  after  his  time  by  the  Tartar  sword,  but  whose 
slavery  proved  the  training  for  a  second  and  greater  time 
of  national  growth. 

1  Inhabited   by   people   '  the   most  umvashen  of  all  the  men  whom  God 
has  made '  (Ibn  Fozlan). 


ii]  daniel's  narrative:  its  value  159 

We  must  notice,  moreover,  in  the  present  narrative,  its 
fulness  of  detail,  its  evident  good  faith,  its  anxiety  to  verify 
by  personal  experience.  Daniel  is  not  without  the  credulity 
of  the  wonder-seeker,  and  he  makes  terrible  slips  at  times; 
but  wherever  he  has  been  himself  his  record  is  almost 
always  a  true  one,  and  where  he  has  not  been,  he  frankly 
tells  us  that  he  only  repeats  the  words  of  others.  He  makes 
no  pretence  to  rhetoric.  '  Forgive  me,1  my  fathers,  my 
brethren,  and  my  lords,' — so  he  closes  one  of  his  last 
chapters, — '  do  not  despise  the  ignorance  in  which  I  have 
been  led  to  describe  these  holy  places,  in  simple  words, 
without  the  skill  of  letters.  If  I  have  written  without 
learning,  there  is  here  at  least  no  lie ;  for  I  described 
nothing  that  I  did  not  see  with  my  very  eyes.' 

Daniel's  narrative  shows  us — if  other  evidence  were 
lacking — that  Palestine  was  far  from  settled  in  the  early 
days  of  the  Latin  Kingdom.  The  roads  from  Jaffa  to 
Jerusalem,  from  Bethlehem  to  Hebron,  from  Jerusalem  to 
Jericho,  were  in  constant  danger  from  Saracen  raiders. 
The  garrison  of  Ascalon  were  especially  feared  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Lydda,  in  the  wooded  hill  country  near 
Solomon's  Pools,  and  in  the  Wilderness  of  Judaea.  In 
Central  Palestine,  Scythopolis  or  Bethshan  was  almost  as 
great  a  centre  for  Moslem  hostility.  So  the  ways  from 
Jerusalem  to  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  from  Mount  Tabor  to 
Nazareth,  and  from  one  side  of  the  Lebanon  to  the  other, 
were  all  unsafe  without  an  escort.  Panthers  and  wild 
asses  were  noticed  by  Daniel  in  the  plateau  land  to  the 
west  of  the  Dead  Sea ;  lions  in  the  almost  tropical  jungle 
of  the  Jordan  Valley  ;  and  date-palms  in  the  hot  lowlands 
of  Jericho  and  Bethshan. 

The    Russian    pilgrim    shows   no  sectarian    feeling ;    no 

1  Ch.  xcvi.  in  Itiniraircs  ricsses,  Sociele  de  FOrient  Latin,  1889. 


160  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

hostility  is  apparent — only  once  a  shade  of  contempt1 — in 
his  language  about  the  dominant  Latin  Church.  On  the 
other  hand,  his  religion  '  humbles  his  unworthiness  in  the 
dust.'  We  need  not  of  course  take  too  literally  in  his  case, 
any  more  than  in  Bunyan's,  the  violent  self-accusation  of  one 
who  declares  himself  to  be  a  scandal  to  the  holy  way,  given 
up  to  every  vice,  and  incapable  of  doing  good.  It  is  prob- 
able that  our  monk  was  led  to  undertake  his  journey, 
among  other  things,2  by  the  news  of  the  Christian  conquest 
of  Jerusalem  ;  but  he  himself  assigns  his  own  sins  as  the 
sole  cause  of  this  act  of  penitence.  Yet  with  a  breadth  of 
view  which  has  often  been  an  honour  to  the  best  men  of 
the  Orthodox  Church,  he  rejoices  to  think  how  many  holy 
souls,  by  practising  good  works,  had  reached  the  sacred 
land  in  spirit,  and  been  acceptable  to  God,  without  once 
leaving  home ;  while  sinners  there  were  ('  of  whom  I 
am  chief)  who  visited  the  holy  places,  and,  swollen  with 
pride,  lost  all  the  fruit  of  their  labour. 

Abbot  Daniel  was  apparently  entertained  at  the  various 
Greek  and  Orthodox,  even  sometimes  at  the  Latin  Monas- 
teries in  Palestine ;  and  in  particular,  he  seems  to  have  owed 
not  a  little  to  the  guidance  of  an  old  monk  from  the  Lavra 
of  St.  Saba  in  the  Kedron  Gorge.  Naturally,  his  traditions 
are  those  of  the  Eastern  Church ; 3  his  knowledge  of  the 
Bible  and  the  Apocryphal  Gospels  is  a  knowledge  of  the 
Greek  text,  as  we  may  notice  in  the  case  of  the  pseudo- 
Apostolic  Protevangeliimi  of  James,  from  which  he  derives 
some  of  his  sacred  lore. 


1  In  describing  the  service  of  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Fire,  '  The  Latins 
began  to  mumble  after  their  manner.' 

-  But  we  must  remember  that 
though  records  are  scanty,  it  is  clear 
that  Russian  Pilgrimage  had  begun 


first  Crusade  ;  and  both  in  dress  and 
manners  the  Eastern  Slavic  peoples, 
from  their  greater  similarity  to 
Oriental  standards,  may  have  found 
a  better  reception  in  the  Levant  than 
Latin  travellers. 


to  flow  steadily  to  Syria  before  the  3  The  '  Assyrians  '  of  Saewulf. 


in.]  Daniel's  narrative  :   its  value  161 

From  the  present  record  it  would  appear  that  Orthodox 
and  Catholic,  Greek  and  Latin,  were  now  on  friendly  terms 
in  Syria,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  Levant ;  the  same  is 
attested  by  the  historians  of  this  period ;  and,  indeed,  it 
is  not  till  after  the  failure  of  the  Council  of  Florence  (1439- 
1443)  that  the  Eastern  and  Western  Communions  frankly 
and  entirely  abandon  the  ground  of  common  Christian 
feeling  for  that  of  sectarian  hatred.  As  examples  of  this 
we  may  notice,  among  other  points,  the  deference  paid  by 
the  King  of  Jerusalem  to  the  clergy  and  monks  of  St.  Saba ; 
the  Orthodox  control  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
even  its  keys  being  in  Greek  hands ;  the  superior  honour 
allowed  to  the  hitter  during  some  of  the  Eastern  ceremonies 
when  the  '  Orthodox  lamps '  were  placed  on  the  sepulchre 
itself,  while  those  of  the  Latins  were  only  hung  around  ; 
and  the  union  of  the  Franks  with  the  Eastern  Christians  in 
the  service  for  Holy  Saturday,  and  in  the  cry  of  Kyrie 
Elcisoa.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  a  somewhat  different 
account  from  Fulcher  of  Chartres,  Daniel's  chief  parallel, 
who  was  present  on  a  famous  Easter  Eve,  when  the  Holy 
Fire  failed  to  descend.  For,  while  confirming  Daniel  in 
almost  all  points,  he  says  that  in  the  Easter  Eve  service 
the  Lections  were  first  read  by  the  Latins  in  Latin,  and 
then  by  the  Greeks  in  Greek  ;  also  that  the  Patriarch  of 
the  Latins  opened  the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  whereas  in 
Daniel  this  is  done  by  one  of  the  Greek  bishops. 

Along  with  many  excellences  Daniel  has  the  defects  of 
a  scanty  book-  and  place-knowledge.  He  puts  Capernaum 
on  the  sea  coast  near  Carmel.     He  identifies  Lydda  l  with 

1  '  Formerly    called    Lydda,    now  seems   to   have  recognised   a   Caper- 

Rambilieh'   (ch.    lxiii. ).    Daniel  also  naum    on    the   Mediterranean    near 

identifies    the    Rama    of    Jeremiah,  Carmel  as  well  as  a  Capharnaum  on 

perhaps  the  modern  Kuriet  el'Enab,  the    Sea    of  Galilee.     Daniel  notices 

with   Rama,   4  versts  from  Emmaus  the  latter  in  ch.  lxxxiii. 
(cc.  lxi.  lxii.).     The  twelfth  century 


162  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

Earaleh ;  Caesarea  Philippi  with  the  greater  Caesarea  on  the 
coast ;  Samaria,  Sebaste,  or  '  Sevastopol '  with  Nablus  or 
Shechem ;  Bethshan,  the  '  City  of  the  Scythians,'  with 
Bashan,  the  home  of  Og.  On  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  the  rivers 
that  flow  into  it,  and  the  town  of  Decapolis,  he  has  some 
very  strange  geography.  Andrew  and  Peter  are  the  '  sons 
of  Zebedee.' l  These  and  other  surprises,  especially  the 
often  extravagant  measurements  of  distance,  can  all  be 
paralleled  from  the  narratives  of  Western  pilgrims;  they 
are  perhaps  sometimes  due  to  corruptions  of  the  text ;  and 
they  usually  relate  to  parts  which  the  Archimandrite  did 
not  personally  visit. 

Abbot  Daniel's  account  of  the  Holy  Places,  like  Saewulf's, 
has  the  special  interest  of  preserving  some  record  of  a  state  of 
things,  and  especially  of  buildings,  which  in  great  measure 
passed  away  under  the  Frank  rule  in  Syria,  as  larger 
schemes  of  Western  adaptation  were  carried  out.  Compar- 
ing his  narrative  with  that  of  the  Worcester  pilgrim,  we 
may  say  that  it  is  in  general  fuller,  as  well  as  more  accurate 
and  more  observant ;  several  details 2  of  interest  in  the  Topo- 
graphy of  Palestine,  omitted  by  his  predecessor,  are  supplied 
by  him  ;  while  there  is  scarcely  anything  in  Saewulf  which 
is  not  also  to  be  found  in  Daniel.  His  three  excursions,  to 
the  Jordan  and  Dead  Sea,  to  Bethlehem  and  Hebron,  and  to 
Damascus,  were  more  extensive  and  more  thorough  than 
those  of  most  other  devotees  ;  on  the  last-named  journey 
he  had  the  advantage  of  accompanying  Baldwin  and  his 
troops,  and  thus  of  visiting  places  which  no  Christian  could 
have  seen  without  an  escort.  Lastly,  his  account  of  Jeru- 
salem is  remarkably  clear,  minute,  and  accurate,  the  result 

1  A  confusion  of  Maik  i.  16,  18,  with  Mark  i.  19,  20. 

2  E.g.  the  Pit  of  Jeremiah. 


Hi-]  Daniel's  outward  journey  163 

of  his  long  and  studious  sojourn  at  the  Metochion  of  the 
Community  of  St.  Saba,  near  the  Jaffa  Gate. 

On  his  outward  way  from  Russia  to  Jerusalem  Daniel's 
record  is  somewhat  meagre.  Unfortunately,  he  begins  with 
Constantinople,  so  that  we  learn  nothing  about  the  first 
part  of  his  route.  From  the  Bosphorus  he  goes  over  much 
the  same  ground  as  Saewulf  traverses  on  his  return,  by 
Heraclea  or  Eregli,  Gallipoli,  and  the  north  coast  of  the  Sea 
of  Marmora,  through  the  Dardanelles,  and  so  into  the 
Mediterranean  or  '  Great  Sea.'"  Here  Russian  pilgrims 
turned  to  the  left  for  Jerusalem,  and  to  the  right  for  the 
Holy  Mountain  of  Athos  or  for  the  city  of  Old  Rome. 
Near  Heraclea  a  sacred  oil  rose  from  the  depths  of  the  sea, 
in  honour  of  the  martyrs  who  had  suffered  thereabout. 
With  this  story  of  Daniel's  we  may  compare  a  remark  of 
Strabo  on  the  discharge  of  '  asphalt '  into  the  iEgaean 
from  Mount  Athos,  at  the  foot  of  which  was  another 
Heraclea.1 

Thence  by  way  of  Teuedos,  Chios,  and  Ephesus  (where 
he  tells  us  the  usual  wonders  about  the  Tomb  of  St.  John  '2 
and  the  Seven  Sleepers),  to  Patmos,  the  rich  and  populous 
Isle  of  Cos,  Telos  or  Nisyros,  celebrated  for  its  production 
of  sulphur  or  'Herod's  torment,'  and  Rhodes.  In  this 
island  Prince  Oleg  the  Rurikide  had  spent  two  summers  and 
winters ;  this  is  abundantly  confirmed  from  other  sources ; 
it  was  in  1079,  according  to  the  Russian  annals,  that  he  was 
made  prisoner  and  carried  to  '  Greece.'  From  Rhodes  Daniel, 
like  Saewulf,  coasted  along  Lycia,  famous  for  the  Tomb  of 
St.  Nicolas  and  the  storax  that  was  gathered  upon  the  hills 
near  the  coast.  Cyprus  was  notable  not  only  for  the  relics 
of  St.  Epiphanius,  but  also    for   a    miraculous  cross  of   the 

1  Now  Eraulitza  ;  cf.   Strabo,  frag-    I       -  E.<j.   the  holy  dust  rising  yearly 
tnent  56.  I   from  this  sepulchre. 


164 


PILGRIM    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


Empress  Helena,  which,  standing  on  a  high  mountain,1  did 
not  rest  upon  the  ground  but  hung  in  space,  supported  by 
divine  power.  '  I,  the  unworthy,  worshipped  this  holy  and 
miraculous  thing,  and  saw  with  my  sinful  eyes  the  divine 
favour  resting  on  this  place.'  From  Cyprus  to  Jaffa  the 
pilgrim  reckons  400  versts,  or  about  270  miles ;  from  Con- 
stantinople to  Rhodes  it  was  800  versts  ;  and  from  Rhodes 
to  Jaffa  800  more,  making  in  all  1600  for  the  sea  voyage 
to  Palestine.  These  distances,  like  the  30  versts  given  for 
the  way  from  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem,  are  fairly  accurate ;  but 
with  them  we  may  contrast  the  80  versts'  interval  between 
Gallipoli  and  Abydos,  the  40  versts  allowed  for  the  length 
and  breadth  of  Merom  or  Gennesareth,  and  the  hardly  less 
exaggerated  dimensions  of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias  or  Galilee, 
which  is  reckoned  as  20  versts  by  50.-  In  explanation  or 
excuse  we  must  not  forget  that  the  Roman  Itineraries  had 
now  fallen  out  of  use  and  memory,  and  that  all  measure- 
ments had  to  be  worked  out  afresh.  Ten  versts  from  Jaffa 
brought  Daniel  to  St.  George  of  Lydda,  where  pilgrims  often 
rested,  '  but  in  great  fear,'  for  the  place  was  desolate,  and 
unpleasantly  near  to  the  Saracen  stronghold  of  Ascalon. 
On  the  foundation  of  the  Moslem  Ramleh  in  the  early 
years  of  the  eighth  century,3  the  whole  population  of  Lydda 
had  been  moved  to  the  new  town,  and  the  ancient  site 
had  been  a  waste  ever  since ;  now,  with  the  Crusading 
period,  a  partial  revival  of  the  old  town  began  again. 

Approaching  Jerusalem,  the  traveller  first  saw  the  Tower 
of   David,  which   then,  as  now,  marked  the  entrance  from 


1  Mount  Troodos. 

2  All  these  are  more  than  double 
the  true  figures  ;  from  Gallipoli  to 
Abydos  is  about  30  versts  ;  Merom  is 
about  10  versts  by  5  (7  by  3i  miles) ; 
the  Sea  of  Galilee   18  versts   by  10 


(12£  miles  by  7). 

3  Ramleh  was  founded  by  Sulei- 
man Ibn  Abd  el  Melek,  a.d.  716  :  cf. 
Z.D.P.V.  (  =  ZeUschrift  deutsch, 
Palasti na-Vcreins),  iv.  88. 


III.]  DANIEL    IN    JERUSALEM  165 

Jaffa  and  the  Mediterranean  ;  and,  reaching  a  plateau  1  which 
commanded  the  city  about  a  verst  from  the  walls,  he  dis- 
mounted and  '  adored  the  holy  resurrection  with  the  sign 
of  the  cross.'  Like  almost  all  pilgrims,  whether  from  West 
or  North,  Daniel  entered  by  the  Western  or  Jaffa  Gate, 
otherwise  known  as  the  Gate  of  Benjamin,  'near  to  the 
house  of  the  Psalmist.'  At  that  time  the  '  Portal  of  King 
David,'  as  Saewulf  calls  it,  belonged  to  a  wall  of  narrower 
circuit  than  the  present,  and  so  lay  somewhat  to  the  east  of 
the  modern  site.  In  exact  agreement  with  his  English 
predecessor,  the  Eussian  pilgrim  notes  that  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  wTas  open  to  the  sky  in  the  middle  of 
the  rotunda,  and  contained  the  Navel  of  the  Earth.-  Adjoin- 
ing the  umbilical  spot,  he  adds,  was  the  representation  of 
Christ  in  mosaic,  with  the  inscription :  The  Sole  of  my  Foot 
is  the  3/easurc3  for  the  Heaven  and  the  Earth.  To  the 
'  Tower  of  David '  he  was  admitted,  though  the  '  lowliest  of 
men,'  with  one  companion,  a  certain  Isdeslav ;  he  gives  an 
excellent  description  of  this  important  fortress ;  and,  like 
Bernard  the  Wise,  he  notices  the  neighbouring  church  of 
St.  Mamilla,  where  so  many  martyrs  had  suffered  in  the 
Persian  massacre  of  614,  'when  Heraclius  was  emperor.' 
A  little  further  to  the  west  of  the  city  he  also  mentions  an 
interesting  link  with  the  farthest  west,  an  Iberian  or  Spanish 
Convent,  which  is  probably  the  famous  Monastery  of  the 
Cross. 

Like  St.  Silvia  of  Aquitaine,  Daniel  shows  an  occasional 
reluctance  to  accept  or  even  to  repeat  every  sacred  story  : 

1  Perhaps  an  elevation  on  the  way 
to  Bethel,  now  called  '  El  Mesharif.' 

2  Some  think  the  '  hell '  described 
by  Daniel  near  the  Church  of  St. 
Stephen,  which  split  asunder  at  the 
time  of  Christ's  Crucifixion,  is  the 
mount    above     'Jeremiah's    Grotto' 


just      outside     the     present     north 
wall. 

3  Daniel  gives  all  his  measurements 
of  buildings  in  Russian  Sagenes.  A 
little  later  he  quotes  some  striking 
passages  from  the  Holy  Week  anthems 
of  the  Eastern  Church, 


166  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

the  traces  of  the  blood  of  Zacharias  '  slain  between  the 
Temple  and  the  Altar '  was  a  favourite  pilgrim  wonder ;  but 
Daniel  will  not  admit  that  these  traces  were  any  longer 
visible.  '  Formerly  they  were,  but  not  now.'  Many 
devotees  also  had  discoursed  on  the  marvellous  remains  of 
the  ancient  temple.  These  had  utterly  disappeared,  says 
Daniel ;  only  some  foundations  were  left.  The  present 
church  was  built  by  a  'Saracen  chief  named  Amor.'  In  spite 
of  the  corruption  of  Omar's  l  name,  it  is  sufficiently  remark- 
able to  find  a  Christian  pilgrim  so  far  informed  about  Moslem 
sovereigns  and  buildings. 

We  may  suppose  it  was  during  the  latter  part  of  his 
stay  in  Palestine  that   the   Eussian   Archimandrite  passed 
sixteen   months'2   in   the   Jerusalem    House,  Metochion,  or 
Filiale,  of  the  Lavra  of  St.  Saba.     This  daughter-settlement, 
a  stone's-throw  only  from  the  Tower  of  David,  was  now  oc- 
cupied, and  apparently  even  crowded,  by  the  monks  who  had 
just  escaped  from  the  destruction  of  the  Mother-House  and  the 
slaughter  of  their  brethren  in  the  Kedron  Valley.     It  is  also 
noticed  by  Saewulf  and  by  John  of  Wiirzburg  ;  and  it  affords  a 
good  example  of  the  constitution  of  the  typical  Lavra  of  the 
Eastern  Church.     Here  monks  were  lodged  in  separate  cells, 
though  under  a  common  superior ;  and  it  was  easy  to  form 
out-settlements  under  this  system,  which  afforded  a  sort  of 
compromise  between  the  original  Hermit-  or  Anchorite-life 
of  the  earliest  monks,  and  the  community-life  of  later  times 
and  of  Western  pattern.     Whether  before,  or  after,  the  sack 
and  massacre  which  had  desolated  the  original  House  in  the 
wilderness  of  Judaea,  Abbot  Daniel  paid  a  visit  also  to  this 
celebrated  spot ;  and  his  account  of  the  hanging  monastery 
may  be  verified  in  all  its  details — the  cells  of  the  Lavra 
attached    to    the    rock,  'like    stars   in  the    firmament,'  and 
1  Of.  William  of  Tyre,  i.  2  ;  viii.  3,  for  the  Omar  tradition.  2  Ch.  i 


III.] 


DANIEL    IN    PALESTINE 


167 


the  dry  torrent  bed  '  of  utmost  depth '  beneath,  shut  in 
between  high  walls  of  rock,  from  which  the  habitations  of 
the  monks  projected  like  the  nests  of  birds.  One  of  the 
brethren,  an  aged  man,  '  well  versed  in  Scripture,'  became 
the  friend  and  guide  of  the  Orthodox  visitor,  and  under  his 
direction  Daniel  journeyed  to  the  Sea  of  Tiberias,  to  Tabor, 
to  Nazareth,  to  Hebron,  and  to  the  Jordan.  Another  holy 
man  of  Daniel's  acquaintance,  an  anchorite,  '  terrifying  of 
aspect,  austere,  and  old,'  lived  as  a  Stylite  or  Pillar-saint 
in  a  deep  cavern  on  the  south  side  of  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
by  the  '  tomb *  of  St.  Pelagia  the  courtezan '  ;  and  this  is 
probably  the  same  ascetic  whom  the  Frank  army  consulted 
at  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  in  1099.'2  From  one  or  other  of 
these  informants  the  Eussian  pilgrim  may  have  learnt  the 
time-honoured  and  absurd  traditions  which  placed  Mount 
Herinon  close  to  Jerusalem,  and  maintained  the  literal  and 
annual  turning  back  or  retrocession  of  the  stream  of  Jordan 
by  a  fanciful  interpretation  of  certain  passages  in  the 
Psalms.3  But  it  was  not  from  any  '  Assyrian '  Christian  or 
native  dragoman  that  he  derived  his  suggestive  comparison 
of  the  Sacred  Eiver  with  an  object  near  his  home  and 
familiar  to  himself.  Never  before  or  after  in  travel 
literature,  we  may  conjecture,  was  the  Jordan  likened  to 
the  Snov  in  Little  Eussia.  Yet  '  in  every  respect  they 
were  alike,  both  in  size  and  in  depth,  and  in  their  winding 
and  rapid  course.'  Also  the  width  of  the  Jordan  at  the 
'Place  of  Baptism,'  near  Jericho,  was  the  same  as  that 
of  the  Snov  at  its  mouth  ;  the  numerous  creeks  of  the  two 
streams,  and  their  great  sheets  of  stagnant  water,  offered 
other  points  of  likeness. 


1  This  is  very  frequently  noticed 
by  pilgrims.,  e.g.  by  nearly  all  the 
Innominati  or  Anonymous  Pilgrims. 


-  According  to  Albert  ot  Aix. 
3  Ct'.  Ps.  xlii.  8  ;  cxiv.  5  ;  Antoni- 
nus Martyr,  oh.  xi, 


168 


PILGRIM    TRAVEL 


[ClT. 


Daniel  was  not  able  to  visit  the  Sea  of  Sodom,  partly  for 
fear  of  '  miscreant  Saracens,'  partly  from  the  dissuasions  of 
the  faithful,  who  told  him  of  the  fetid  smell  rising  from  the 
infernal  lake,  which  none  could  approach  without  torment. 
Speaking,  therefore,  only  from  hearsay,  he  naturally  repeats 
the  fashionable  fables  :  '  The  Sea  of  Sodom  exhales  a  burning 
and  malignant  breath,  which  lays  waste  all  the  neighbour- 
hood;  it  is  dead  and  contains  no  living  creature;  and  if  the 
Jordan  carries  any  fish  into  it,  they  perish  immediately  and 
cannot  live  one  hour.  A  black  pitch  rises  from  the  bottom 
and  covers  the  banks,  and  the  foul  vapours  are  like  burning- 
sulphur;  the  torments  of  hell  lie  under  the  sea.' 

Beyond  Jordan,  adds  Daniel,  inverting  the  sense  of  a 
famous  text,  was  the  land  of  Zebulon  and  Naphthali. 
Here  many  of  the  western  pilgrims,  especially  in  the  fourth, 
fifth,  and  sixth  centuries,  had  placed  the  Hill  of  Hermon  ;  but 
the  Slavonic  visitor,  with  a  certain  independence  not  un- 
common even  in  his  traditionalism,  locates  it  on  the  west  or 
opposite  bank  of  the  river.1  Hard  by  was  the  place  where, 
at  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  the  Jordan  turned  back  and  the 
Sea  of  Sodom  fled,  '  seeing  the  Divinity  in  the  midst  of  the 
waters;'  in  the  same  neighbourhood  was  Mount  Grabaon, 
over  which  the  sun  stood  still  for  half  a  day,  so  that  Joshua 
might  triumph  when  he  fought  against  Og,  King  of  Bashan. 
Along  with  this  we  may  take  some  other  distortions ;  the 
death  of  Absalom  in  a  wood  near  Hebron  ;  the  house  of  the 


1  Rasing  this  on  an  interpretation 
of  Psalm  xlii.  8,  Daniel  also  describes 
(eh.  xxxiv. )  the  Epiphany  baptism  of 
Catechumens  in  the  Jordan  at  mid- 
night 'like  Christ  Himself  ;  in  chs. 
lv  lvi. .  he  seems  to  place  the  sites  of 
both  Sodom  and  Zoar  west  of  the 
Dead  Sea.  The  place  of  the  sacrifice 
of  Abraham  at  Hebron  was  one  verst 


from  the  double  cavern  of  Macpelah 
and  also  one  verst  from  the  valley  of 
Greznova,  which  was  two  versts  from 
Sigor  or  Zoar ;  the  picture  of  the 
B.V.M.,  noticed  in  the  Church  of  St 
Gerasinus  near  Jericho,  is  now  in 
the  Patriarchal  Church  of  St.  Con- 
stantine  at  Jerusalem. 


III.]  DANIEL    IN    PALESTINE  169 

Shunamite  in  the  Saracen  village  of  Jericho ;  and  the 
healing  of  the  two  blind  men  at  Bethshan  or  Bashan. 
The  fertility  of  the  Hebron  region  arouses  Daniel's  admira- 
tion ;  but  the  town  he  describes,  like  Saewulf,  as  now  a 
mere  waste.  Here  both  these  Christian  travellers  may  be 
usefully  compared  with  Benjamin  of  Tudela ;  but  it  is 
not  likely  that  either  of  them  was  able  to  anticipate  the 
Jewish  traveller,  and  to  enter  those  caves  at  Machpelah, 
which  were  only  made  accessible  in  1119.1  In  the  wooded 
hills  near  Mamre,  where  'God  paved  the  soil  with  white 
marble  like  the  pavement  of  a  church,'  Daniel  was  in  great 
danger  from  the  Moslem  brigands  of  the  highlands  and 
the  '  miscreants  '  of  Ascalon  ;  but  he  came  through  in  safety, 
with  a  good  and  numerous  company,  under  the  escort  of  a 
Saracen  chief,  and  saw  with  his  own  eyes  the  stone  column 
of  Lot's  wife  near  Segor,  and  many  other  places  of  '  inde- 
scribable sanctity,'  on  the  west  of  the  Dead  Sea.2 

After  enumerating  and  describing  all  the  places  in  and 
around  Jerusalem,15  the  liussian  pilgrim  attempts  a  sort  of 
Itinerary  of  Northern  and  Central  Palestine  ;  and  here  it  is 
he  makes  some  of  his  strangest  slips.  Caesarea  Philijypi, 
on  the  coast  of  Palestine,  thirty  versts  from  Jaffa,  was  but 
eight  versts  from  Capernaum,  which  itself  was  not  far  from 
the  Great  Sea  or  Mediterranean.  With  this  we  may  com- 
pare Benjamin  of  Tudela,  who  puts  Capernaum  four  para- 
sangs  from  the  Kishon,  and  six  from  Caesarea :  probably 
both  travellers  intended  by  the   term    some   place   on  the 

1  Cf.    Comte    Riant.    Archives    de   '    place     is     now     shown     near     Mar 
/'Orient  Latin,  iii.  411-421.  Elias,  between  Jerusalem  and  Bethle- 


2  Among  these  was  the  field  near 
Bethlehem,  whence  the  angel  carried 
away  the  prophet  Habakkuk  to 
Babylon  and  back  again  in  the  same 
day  and  hour.  Cf.  Daniel,  eh.  Ivi. ; 
Lievin,  Guide  Indica /ear,  331.     This 


hem. 

::  Among  other  peculiarities  here, 
we  may  notice  Daniel's  'Anatolia,' 
apparently  meant  for  'Araunalr: 
like  his  '  Aphrodisius '  for  '  Epa- 
phroditns,' 


170 


PILGRIM    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


Syrian  coast  near  Mount  Carrnel.1  However  this  may  be, 
here  Antichrist  was  one  day  to  manifest  himself,  and  for 
this  reason  the  Latins  had  abandoned  the  town. 

Six  versts  from  Capernaum  brought  one  to  Mount  Carmel, 
where  Elias  slew  the  priests  of  Babel.  Thence  to  Acre,  now 
occupied  by  the  Franks,  and  the  coast  towns  to  the  north, 
'  philosophic '  Beyrout,  Great  Antioch,  Byblus,  Tripolis, 
Latakiyeh,  Little  Antioch  in  Cilicia,  and  Satalia  or  Adalia, 
Most  of  these  places  Daniel  passed  without  landing ; 2  he 
probably  took  ship  at  Beyrout,  and  returned  to  Constantinople 
by  the  same  way  that  he  had  come.  But  all  this  was  after 
his  tour  in  Galilee,  a  province  of  which  he  gives  a  detailed 
account.  It  lay,  he  believed,  to  the  east  or  '  summer  sun- 
rising  '  of  Jerusalem ;  Daniel's  fondness  for  fixing  his 
places  by  the  position  of  the  sun  at  the  winter  or  summer 
solstice  is  a  reminiscence  of  the  days  when  clocks  and 
watches  did  not  exist,  and., when  'pointer-stones  were  set3 
up  to  mark  the  sun's  furthest  deviation  north  and  south.' 
From  the  Holy  City  to  Tiberias  the  pilgrim  travelled  in  the 
company  of  King  Baldwin,  who  was  now  'making  a  road' 
against  Damascus  and  the  sources  of  the  Jordan.  Thus  he 
passed  in  safety  the  Mountains  of  Gilboa,4  on  which  no 
dew  ever  fell,  and  by  way  of  the  land  of  Samaria,5  a  district 


1  Athlit  and  Klid  el  Keniseh  have 
both  been  suggested.  The  latter  is 
apparently  the  Capernaum  of  William 
of  Tyre,  Geoffrey  de  Vinsauf,  and 
James  de  Vitry.  See  Guerin, 
Samarie,  ii.  274-282,  and  Sir  C. 
Wilson  in  the  P.P.T.  Soc.  Edu.  of 
Daniel. 

2  Sir  C.  Wilson  thinks  Daniel 
travelled  by  land  either  to  Beyrout 
or  to  Sueidiah,  the  port  of  Antioch, 
and  then  embarked  for  Constanti- 
nople.      At    Beyrout     Daniel     also 


mentions  the  famous  Eikon  which 
shed  blood  and  water  on  being 
pierced  with  a  lance  by  blasphemous 
Jews. 

3  Cf.  Sir  C.  Wilson  in  P.P.T.  Soc. 
Edn.  of  Daniel. 

4  Gilboa  was  only  14  versts,  9h 
miles,  from  Jerusalem,  according  to 
Daniel.  He  is  thinking,  perhaps,  of 
Lubb&n,  between  Jerusalem  and 
Nablus. 

5  Daniel  repeats  his  confusion  of 
Samaria  with  Nablus  in  ch.  xcv, 


III.]  DANIEL    IN    PALESTINE  171 

so  fertile  as  to  be  the  Granary  of  Jerusalem,1  descended  into 
the  great  trough  of  the  Ghor  down  to  the  Sea  of  Galilee. 
The  Jordan  poured  out  of  this  lake,  he  tells  us,  in  two 
branches?  one  called  Jor  and  the  other  Dan  (here  is  an 
improvement  on  the  older  stories) ;  and  near  this  exit  Prince 
Baldwin  dined  with  all  his  troops.  From  this  point  the 
Crusading  army  parted  company  with  their  guest,  crossing 
the  Jordan  at  the  old  bridge,  just  below  the  lake ;  while 
Abbot  Daniel  pushed  on  to  Tiberias,  Tabor,  and  Nazareth, 
escaping  from  the  perils  of  lions,  and  the  still  more  dangerous, 
powerful,  and  impious  Saracens  of  the  Bethshan  country. 
:  Unworthy  sinner  that  I  am,  God  granted  me  to  see  all 
this  land  of  Galilee  upon  which  I  never  hoped  to  set  my 
eyes,  all  the  holy  places  upon  which  Christ,  our  God,  set  His 
feet.'  Truthfully  and  fully,  declares  the  pilgrim,  has  he 
described  all  these  places ;  some  others  had  not  been 
able  properly  to  explore  all  they  would  fain  tell  of,  and  so 
had  been  led  into  error ;  others  again  had  sought  refuge 
in  lies  and  fables.  But  the  company  of  Baldwin's  troops 
and  the  guidance  of  the  old  Sabaite  monk,  who  had  passed 
thirty  years  in  Galilee,  saved  the  writer  from  such  mischance. 
He  was  able  even  to  make  trial  of  the  fish  of  the  lake — 
especially  a  kind  of  carp,  of  taste  excelling  all  other  fish.  The 
Lake  of  Merom  he  only  saw  from  a  distance,  and  he  describes  it 
very  loosely,  under  the  name  of  '  Gennesareth,'  as  larger  in 
area  than  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  with  which  it  was  linked  by  a 
river,  clearly   a   different  stream   from    the   Jordan    of  his 


1  At  Bethshan,  Daniel  locates  the 
stories  of  the  Tribute  Money,  the 
Stater  in  the  Fish's  Month,  and  the 
healing  of  the  Two  Blind  Men.  See 
Matthew  xvii.  24-27  ;  xxii.  17-21  ; 
xx.  30-34. 

2  Instead  of  the  usnal  '  fountains '  ; 
the  two  branches  which  formed  the 


Jordan  below  the  Sea  of  Galilee 
may  be  our  Jordan  and  Yennak 
(Hieromax),  or  two  arms  of  the  Jor- 
dan itself,  which  then  perhaps  en- 
circled Kerak  of  Galilee  (Sennabrin). 
It  is  evident  that  in  Daniel's  mind 
the  Jordan  began  at  the  Sea  of 
Galilee. 


172 


PILGRIM    TRAVEL 


[OH. 


geography.  In  this  region  was  the  great  town  of  Decapolis, 
and  towards  the  east  Mount  Lebanon,  infested  by  Saracens, 
and  therefore  unapproachable,  but  from  which  (it  was  said) 
there  poured  down  twelve  large  streams,  six  towards  the 
east,  and  six  towards  the  south ;  the  latter  fell  into 
Gennesareth,  the  others  flowed  towards  Antioch  the  Great ; 
and  the  country  between  them  was  that  Mesopotamia,  or 
Land  between  the  rivers,  wherein  Abraham's  '  Charran ' 
was  to  be  found.1  Lebanon  was  out  of  Daniel's  reach ; 
but  Tabor,  a  '  marvellous  work  of  God,'  he  ascended  with 
six  hours  of  '  toilsome  labour.'  His  description  is  photo- 
graphic. '  It  is  the  highest  of  neighbouring  mountains, 
and  is  perfectly  isolated,  rising  in  majesty  from  the  middle 
of  the  plain  like  a  round  hay-cock,  formed  by  art,  and  of 
a  great  circuit  withal.'  Here2  took  place  not  only  the 
Transfiguration,  but  the  meeting  of  Melchisedek  and 
Abraham.  In  Nazareth,  which  had  now  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  Crusaders,  the  Orthodox  traveller  was  re- 
ceived by  the  Latin  bishop ;  and  from  this  point,  or  rather 
from  Cana  of  Galilee,  he  retraced  his  steps  to  Jerusalem 
in  the  company  of  a  large  caravan,  by  way  of  Acre,  Haifa, 
Caesarea,  and  '  Samaria.' 3  The  narrative  ends  with  an 
elaborate  account  of  the  Easter  services  in  the  Holy  City, 
with  some  words  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  on  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  traveller's  pious  hopes,  and  with  a 
commemoration  of  those  countrymen  of  his  whose  names  he 
inscribed  for  the  prayers  of  the  faithful  at  the  Lavra  of 
St,  Saba. 

Desirous   of   witnessing   the   descent   of   the    Heavenly 


1  All  the  mythical  matter  just  pre- 
ceding, like  much  in  Saewulf.  was 
probably  derived  from  that  licensed 
monstrosity,  the  '  Palestine  Guide.' 

2  Or   close  by,    between    Nazareth 


and      Tabor.       '  Melchisedek      often 
comes  there  [still]  to   celebrate  the 
liturgy.'  adds  Daniel,  eh.  lxxxviii. 
:f  Nablus  or  Sliechem. 


III.] 


DANIEL    AND    THE    HOLY    FIRE  :     RETURN 


173 


Fire,1  '  when  it  comes  down  invisibly  from  Heaven  and  lights 
all  the  lamps  in  the  tomb  of  our  Lord,'  Daniel  obtained  an 
audience  of  Prince  Baldwin.  '  On  the  Wednesday  in 
Holy  Week,  at  the  first  hour  of  the  day,  wicked  and  un- 
worthy as  I  was,  I  presented  myself  before  the  Prince  and 
saluted  him.  Perceiving  my  insignificance,  he  affectionately 
called  me  to  him,  and  said :  "  What  will'st  thou,  Russian 
Abbot  ? "  Fur  he  knew  and  loved  me,  being  himself  a 
man  of  little  pride  and  of  great  goodness  and  humility. 
And  I  said :  "  My  Prince  and  my  Lord,  I  beg  thee,  for  the 
sake  of  God  and  of  the  Eussian  Princes,  permit  me  to  place 
my  lamp  on  the  Holy  Sepulchre  in  the  name  of  the  whole 
Russian  land." '  Permission  was  granted  with  special 
graciousness,  and  Daniel  records  with  triumph  that  his 
own  lamp,  being  inside  the  Holy  Grave,  caught  fire,  but 
none  of  the  Frank  lamps  which  hung  above  the  Tomb 
were  so  fortunate.  On  Baldwin's  entrance  into  the  Church 
on  Holy  Saturday  '  about  the  seventh  hour,'  Daniel 
walked  by  his  side  with  the  Abbot  of  St.  Saba,  and  close  by? 
among  the  throng  of  worshippers,  were  various  friends  and 
companions  from  Kiev  and  Novgorod — Isiaslav  Ivanovitch, 
Gorodislav  Mikhailovitch,  the  two  Kashkitch,  and  others. 
'Thanks  be  unto  the  mercy  of  God,'  concludes  Daniel, 
'who  has  permitted  my  unworthiness  to  inscribe  the  names 
of  the  Russian  Princes  in  the  Lavra  of  St.  Saba — to  wit 
Mikhail  Sviatopolk  Isiaslavovitch,-  in  whose  reign  I  made 
this  pilgrimage,  Vassili  Vladimirovitch,  David  Sviatoslavitch, 
Mikhail,   Oleg,   and   Pancrati    Sviatoslavitch,   and   Gleb   of 

Minsk.     Their  names  and  those  of  their  wives  and  children 

> 

and  of  the  Russian  bishops,  abbots,  and  boyars,  together  with 


lOn   the    Holy   Fire,    cf.    Tobler, 
Golgotha,  460-483. 

-  He  was  the  grandson  of  Yaroslav 


'  the  Great,'  Grand  Prince  of  Kiev, 
famous  for  his  Black  Sea  expeditions 
against  Constantinople  (1016-1054). 


174  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

all  faithful  Christians,  I  did  not  forget  to  commemorate  at 
each  of  the  Holy  Places.' 

On  his  homeward  journey,  the  Slav  pilgrim  was  (like 
Saewulf),  attacked  by  pirates  near  Patara  in  Lycia — unlike 
Saewulf,  he  did  not  wholly  escape ;  but  though  plundered 
by  the  four  galleys  of  these  brigands,  he  saved  his  life,  and 
returned  at  last  to  the  city  of  Constantine  and  Holy  Eussia. 
At  the  end  of  his  wanderings  he  returns  thanks  to  God  for 
his  singular  good  fortune.  Brigands,  wild-beasts,  and  disease 
had  all  threatened,  but  none  had  been  able  to  touch  his  life. 
Like  an  eagle  taking  its  flight,  he  had  been  sustained  by 
the  Divine  Power ;  like  a  stag,  he  had  gone  boldly  forward, 
without  fatigue  and  without  loitering.  To  his  own  country- 
men and  to  modern  students  there  is  another  interest  in  the 
pilgrimage  of  Abbot  Daniel ;  for  it  is  an  expression  in 
written  form  of  one  of  the  chief  elements  of  Slavonic  life ; 
it  is  among  the  earliest  landmarks  in  the  history  of  a  great 
people  ;  and  it  illustrates  the  truth  that  (with  races  as  with 
individuals)  internal  progress  is  constantly  associated  with 
external  activities,  with  an  irresistible  tendency  to  move  out 
into  the  world,  to  travel,  to  explore,  perhaps  to  colonise  and 
to  conquer. 

From  the  time  of  the  conversion  of  the  Northmen  a 
constant  stream  of  Scandinavian  pilgrims  had  flowed  to  the 
Levant.  In  the  first  quarter  of  the  eleventh  century,  Denmark, 
Sweden,  and  Norway  had  all  alike  thrown  off  their  national 
and  official  heathendom,  though  a  local  and  unrecognised 
paganism  long  survived  in  country  districts;  and  it  was 
not  long  before  some  of  the  greatest  Northmen  are  found 
upon  the  pilgrim  way.  Three  chief  routes  were  followed 
by  Scandinavians  bound  for  the  Holy  Places  of  Syria — the 
Eastern,  the  Western,  and  the  Eoman.     The  first  of  these, 


HI.]  SCANDINAVIAN    PILGEIM-ROUTES  17 5 

also  called  the  Vaerings'  Path,  was  historically  the  earliest 
and  led  through  the  Slavo-Scandinavian  principalities  of 
Russia  to  the  Black  Sea,  the  Bosphorus,  and  the  Levant. 
The  second,  or  long  sea  -  way,  led  round  the  coasts  of 
Northern  and  Western  Europe  and  through  the  Straits  of 
Gibraltar.  The  third,  or  overland  track,  conducted  the 
Northman  from  any  of  the  North  Sea  ports  to  Italy  and 
the  Threshold  of  the  Apostles,  leaving  him  to  proceed 
eastward  from  one  of  the  havens  of  '  Pouille.'  We  have 
already  seen  how  Thorir  Hund,  '  according  to  the  talk  of 
many,'  went  off  to  the  Holy  Land  after  the  battle  of 
Stiklestad ;  and  how  Skopti  Ogmundson,  in  the  reign  of 
King  Magnus  Barefoot,  sailed  with  five  ships  along  Flanders 
and  France  and  Spain  into  the  Mediterranean.  Some  said  l 
that  Skopti  was  the  first  Northman  to  sail  through  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar ; 2  in  any  case,  he  and  his  sons  died  on 
the  journey,  Skopti  himself  in  Rome,  others  of  his  company 
in  Sicily,  others  again  in  Palestine  or  Constantinople.  But 
some  of  Skopti's  followers  made  their  way  home  again  and 
brought  with  them  wonderful  stories  of  the  splendid  or 
sacred  countries  of  the  South  ;  and  herewith  they  roused 
the  sons3  of  King  Magnus  among  others  to  imitate  their 
example.  Magnus  himself  had  been  famous  for  his  voyages 
and  conquests  in  the  British  Seas  and  Isles  ;  his  children, 
like  most  men  in  Norway,  had  the  same  old  yearning 
for  glory  and  novelty  and  adventure  ;  and,  where  Harald 
Hadrada  had  gone,  ins  successors  were  eager  to  follow.  As 
in  Harald's  time,  Northmen  could  still  win  fabulous  wealth 
in  the  service"  of  the  Byzantines;  and  whatever  might  be 
the  fate  of  men  in  this  world,  they  were  certain  of  the 
next,  if  they  journeyed  in  his  steps   to   the   Holy   Places. 

1  So  Magnus  Barcfool's  Saga,  ch.    I        -  After  the  almost  mythical  Nona. 
Xxii.  ;  cf.  Sigurd's  Saga,  eh.  i.  3  But  see  p.  23,  note. 


176  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Cfc. 

And  other  weiglity  reasons  induced  the  sons  of  Magnus 
Barefoot  to  take  up  the  part  of  pilgrim  warriors.  The 
Latin  Conquest  of  Jerusalem  had  created  new  centres  of 
attraction  for  the  enterprise,  the  commerce,  the  valour, 
and  the  religion  of  every  Christian  country ;  and  North- 
men might  hope  to  carve  out  for  themselves  a  kingdom 
in  the  Levant  as  good  as  the  new  principalities  of  Syria. 
In  the  Western  Mediterranean  such  a  kingdom  had  re- 
warded the  daring  and  the  persistence  of  a  few  Norman 
adventurers  ;  and,  beside  the  examples  of  Kobert  Guiscard 
and  Roger  of  Sicily,  there  were  the  still  greater  achieve- 
ments of  William  the  Bastard  in  Valland  and  in  England, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  older  feats  of  Bunk  and  of  Rolf. 

It  was  four  years  after  the  defeat  and  death  of  King 
Magnus  in  Ireland  (1103)  that  Sigurd,  his  son,  began  his 
famous  journey  to  Jerusalem  (1107).  First  of  all,  he  sailed 
to  England  with  sixty  ships,  and,  arriving  there  about  the 
close  of  autumn,  passed  the  winter  at  the  Court  of  Henry 
the  Norman.1  In  the  spring  of  1108  he  set  out  again, 
coasted  along  the  West  of  France,  and  came  about  the 
time  of  harvest  to  the  '  James-land '  of  Galicia,  already 
famous  from  its  Shrine  of  Santiago  at  Compostella.  Here 
the  Norsemen  spent  the  next  winter,  and  here  they  soon 
fell  to  disputing,  and  then  to  fighting,  with  the  '  Earl '  or 
Ruler  of  the  country,  over  their  food  supply,  '  for  it 
was  a  poor  barren  land.'  To  replenish  their  larder  they 
plundered  one  of  the  Earl's  castles,  and  sailed  down 
along  the  west  shore-land  of  Spain  in  search  of  better 
quarters.  Near  the  mouth  of  the  Tagus  Sigurd  met  with 
a  fleet  of  '  heathen  Vikings,'  and  took  eight  of  their  galleys  ; 2 
perhaps  the  reference  here  is  rather  to  a  Moslem  than  to  a 
Norse  pirate-squadron,  for  Sigurd's  host  had  now  arrived  on 

1  Ch.  iii.  of  Sigurd's  Saga.  2  Ch.  iv.  of  Sigurd's  Saga. 


in.]  sigurd's  outward  journey  177 

a  field  where  the  struggle  between  Christendom  and  islam 
was  proceeding  very  briskly.  The  successes  of  Alfonso  VI. 
of  Leon  and  Castile  had  been  checked  in  Central  Spain  by 
the  arrival  of  the  Almoravides  and  the  battle  of  Zalacca 
(1086);  but  he  continued  to  win  ground  along  the  Western 
coast  till  1093,  even  pushing  up  to  the  Tagus  and  storming 
Lisbon.  In  the  next  year,  however,  the  Christian  advance 
was  forced  back  on  this  side  also,  Lisbon  was  retaken,  and 
Alfonso  summoned  the  chivalry  of  Christendom  to  his  aid. 
Among  the  free  lances  who  responded  to  the  call  was  one 
Henry  of  Burgundy,  an  ancestor  of  kings,  though  never 
crowned  himself ;  he  showed  himself  a  valuable  and  faithful 
ally,  and  he  was  rewarded  with  a  partnership.  In  1095 
Alfonso  conferred  on  Henry  that  county  of  Portugal  which, 
like  the  Austrian  Duchy,  began  as  a  military  frontier 
against  the  heathen  world,  and  which  proved  so  useful  and 
so  important  in  checking  the  renewed  attack  of  Islam  on 
the  West.  The  creation  of  this  county  or  military  district 
was  especially  to  guard  Oporto,  '  the  port '  of  Galicia ;  it  had 
been  effected  only  thirteen  years  before  Sigurd's  arrival  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Douro  ;  and  it  may  be  viewed  as  a  second  and 
more  successful  essay  in  a  scheme  of  frontier  defence,  which 
in  1093  had  set  up  a  Lisbon  County  for  Sueiro  Mendes, 
and  which,  though  defeated  on  the  Tagus,  was  still  maintain- 
ing the  line  of  the  Mondego  at  the  time  of  Sigurd's  visit. 

The  Northern  Crusaders,  like  their  followers  in  1147  and 
11S9,  rendered  yeoman  service  to  the  struggling  Christians 
of  Spain  under  the  Norse  king's  leadership  (1108-9).  The 
Castle  of  Cintra,  near  Lisbon,  was  a  centre  of  Moslem  raids, 
and  Sigurd  began  by  capturing  it  with  all  its  stores  and 
putting  its  defenders  to  the  sword.1     Next  he  attacked  the 

1  Ch.  iv.  Sigurd's  Saga,  of 
which  here  quotes  the  court  poet, 
ftalldor     Gabbler:       '  No     man     he 


spared    who    would    not    take    The 
Christian  faith  for  Jesus'  sake.' 


M 


178  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

great  city  of  Lisbon,  which  even  then,  perhaps,  contained 
200,000  inhabitants,  and  which  the  Saga  describes  as  half 
Christian  and  half  heathen,  marking  the  dividing  line  be- 
tween  the  rival  faiths  and  politics  of  Spain.1  Since  the  year 
716,  it  had  been  under  Moslem  rule,  but  for  three  brief 
intervals, — in  792,2  851,  and  1093, — it  had  fallen  back  under 
Leon  or  Castile ;  now,  in  1109,  though  fiercely  attacked  by 
Sigurd  from  the  sea,  and  by  '  Portugal '  from  the  land,  it  was 
too  strong  to  be  taken,  and  its  fate  was  deferred  for  almost 
forty  years,  when  the  same  kind  of  combination  won  the 
decisive  victory  of  1147.  The  Norse  fleet,  though  perforce 
content  with  an  empty  victory  and  some  plunder  outside 
Lisbon,  did  better  work  at  Alcac,er 3  do  Sal  (a  little  further 
to  the  south),  which  fell  into  their  hands  after  another  battle. 
From  this  point  King  Sigurd  made  straight  for  Norva 
Sound,  and  so  entered  the  Middle  Sea  in  the  teeth  of  a 
great  pirate  host,  which  vainly  tried  to  bar  his  passage  ; 4  here 
again  the  '  Vikings '  of  the  Saga  may  be  translated  as  Saracen 
rovers,  or  even  perhaps  as  a  more  national  force  ecpuipped  by 
the  Moslems  of  Andalus  and  Barbary  against  their  new  enemy. 
Soon  the  Mussulmans  had  to  meet  an  attack  from  a  fresh 
quarter.  Not  satisfied  with  their  Crusade  in  the  west  of 
Spain,  the  Northmen  now  fall  upon  the  east  coast  and  the 
Balearics.  Here,  where  the  ships  of  Moors  or  '  Bluemen ' 
had  so  long  found  a  refuge,  a  storehouse,  and  a  fortress,  the 
Christian  warriors  chased  the  Saracens  into  the  hills,  penned 
them  up  in  caverns,  and  harried,  slew,  and  burnt  wide 
over  Minorca  and  Iviga  and  Forminterra.  In  the  last  and 
smallest  of  these  islands  a  great  throng  of  the  Unbelievers 

1  Ch.  v.  of  Sigurd's  Saga.  j    Algeciras,   and  the   '  Moorish   palace 

2  On  this  occasion  it  Avas  retained  near  Seville,  called  Alcasir,'  have  also 
by  the  Christians  till  812.  been  conjectured. 

3  '  Alcasse '    in  the  Saga   of  King  4  Ch.  vi.  of  Sigurd's  Saga. 
Sigurd,  ch.  v.    The  African  Alcacers, 


III.] 


SIGUET)    IN    SPAIN    AND    SICILY 


179 


took  shelter  in  a  cave,  whose  entrance  was  fortified  with  two 
stone  walls,  an  outer  and  an  inner,  exceedingly  difficult  to 
capture,  or  even  to  approach.  For  '  this  cave  lay  on  a 
cliff,  very  sheer  and  steep,  but  with  a  rock  hanging  over  it 
from  above.  And  the  heathen  kept  guard  well,  and  were 
not  afraid  of  the  Northmen,  but  defied  and  taunted  them 
as  cowards.  Then  Sigurd  took  a  pair  of  ships'-boats  and 
drew  them  up  the  rock  above  the  mouth  of  the  cave  ;  and  he 
had  thick  ropes  fastened  around  the  stem  and  stern  and 
hull  of  each.  Now  in  the  boats  went  as  many  men  as  could 
find  room,  and  they  were  lowered  by  the  ropes  to  the  mouth 
of  the  cave ; '  and  so  the  heathen  were  driven  with  slings 
and  missiles  from  their  defence.  Then  Sigurd  went  up  the 
rock  with  his  host,  and  forced  his  way  into  the  den,  but  the 
heathen  fled  behind  their  inner  rampart.  '  And  upon  this 
the  king  brought  great  trees,  and  made  a  pile  of  wood  at  the 
mouth  of  the  cavern,  and  set  fire  to  it;  and  thus  he  slew  or 
burned  all  who  were  therein.' J  It  was  a  foretaste  of  the 
permanent  Christian  conquest  under  James  of  Aragon  a 
century  later. 

Next  spring  the  Northmen  came  to  Sicily  2  and  stayed  there 
a  long  time  with  their  kinsman,  Duke  Eoger  II.  The  vanity 
or  ignorance  of  the  Saga-writer  here  inserts  a  patriotic  tale 
of  Sigurd's  condescension  and  generosity.  Roger  had  bidden 
his  visitor  to  a  feast  and  served  him  with  his  own  hand. 
But  after  six  days  of  good  cheer,  the  guest  took  his  host  by 
the  hand  '  and  led  him  up  to  the  high  seat  and  gave  him 
the  name  and  right  of  King  ;  but  before  there  had  been  only 


1  As  the  skald  Thorarin  Curtfell 
( = '  Stuttfeld  ')  sang  :  —  '  The  king's 
men  up  the  mountain-side  Drag 
two  boats  from  the  ocean's  tide, 
The  two  boats  lay  Like  hill  wolves 
gray,  Now  o'er  the   rocks  on   ropes 


they're  swinging  Well-manned,    and 
death   to   Bluemen    bringing,    They 
hang     before     The     robbers     door,' 
eh.  vi.  of  Sigurd's  Saga. 
2  Cli.  viii.  of  Sigurd's  Saga, 


180  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  LCh. 

Earls  in  Sicily.'  On  the  other  hand,  the  Great  Counts  of  the 
Norman  Dynasty  dated  their  kingly  title  from  the  papal 
grant  of  1129  ;  and  if  Roger,  one  of  the  most  powerful  and 
civilised  of  Christian  princes,  had  wished  for  any  such 
investiture  by  a  temporal  lord,  he  might  have  had  it  from 
the  Eastern  or  Western  Emperor.  In  any  case,  it  is  clear 
that  if  Sigurd  really  made  any  pretence  of  crowning  the 
future  patron  of  Edrisi  and  conqueror  of  Tunis,  then  a  boy 
of  thirteen  years,  it  was  only  treated  as  a  piece  of  pageantry 
by  the  Court  of  Sicily. 

In  the  summer,  the  Norse  leader  went  on  his  way  over 
the  '  Greek '  Sea  to  Palestine,1  landed  at  Acre  (or  at  Beyrout,) 2 
and  went  up  to  Jerusalem,  where  King  Baldwin  greeted  him 
well.  The  Latin  Prince  knew  how  to  make  the  most  of  so 
useful  an  ally  in  the  critical  struggle  on  the  frontiers  of 
Christendom,  and  he  showed  his  guest  all  the  honour  in  his 
power,  even  riding  down  with  him  to  the  Jordan  and  back 
again.  '  And  he  made  him  a  goodly  banquet  and  gave  him 
many  relics,  yea,  a  splinter  out  of  the  Holy  Cross.'  Yet  the 
Norse  king  had  not  quite  forgotten  the  heathen  traditions 
of  his  people.  For  when  he  came  to  the  sacred  river,  as  he 
boasted  on  his  return,  he  swam  over  the  stream,  and  there, 
in  a  copse  that  was  on  the  bank,  he  tied  a  knot  and  spoke 
over  it  a  spell,  and  till  that  knot  was  loosed  he  thought  his 
luck  would  not  depart  from  him.  But  at  the  same  time  he 
promised  to  spread  the  faith  in  Norway  to  the  best  of  his 
power,  to  pay  his  tithes,  and  to  found  an  Archbishop's  See, 
if  that  were  possible.     Still  better,  he  showed  himself  for- 

1  Ch.  x.  of  Sigurd's  Saga.  i  the  golden  horse-shoes  at  Constan- 
-  According  to  William  of  Tyre,  j  tinople,  which  are  inserted  to  prove 
Sigurd  landed  at  Beyrout.  The  best  that  no  riches  could  dazzle  the  North- 
text  of  K.  Sigurd's  Saga,  chs.  x.-xi.  men,  or  find  them  unprepared  with 
does  not  give  the  well-known  fables  an  equal  display  of  power  and 
of    the   clothes  at  Jerusalem,   or    of  grandeur. 


HI.]       SIGURD  IN  PALESTINE  AND  CONSTANTINOPLE       181 

ward  to  take  his  share  in  the  Holy  War ;  with  his  fleet  he 
helped  in  the  capture  of  Sidon  x  (December,  1110);  and  all 
that  autumn  and  winter  Northmen  and  Franks  made 
common  cause  against  the  Saracens.  But  at  the  beginning 
of  the  next  year  (1111),  Sigurd  left  Palestine  and  sailed  off 
to  Cyprus  and  Constantinople.2  At  Angel-Ness,  perhaps  the 
mouth  of  the  little  river  .Egos  within  the  Dardanelles,  he 
stayed  a  fortnight,  waiting  for  a  side  wind  which  would  fill 
his  sails  to  the  best  advantage,  and  so  set  off  his  state  entry 
into  the  Golden  Horn.  At  last  the  right  breeze  came,  and 
he  coasted  along  towards  the  Great  City ;  even  the  Norsemen, 
who  had  been  so  far  and  seen  so  much,  were  amazed  at  the 
wealth  and  population  of  the  country  along  the  Sea  of 
Marmora  and  the  Bosphorus.  For  '  over  all  that  land  there 
were  castles  and  towns  and  villages,  one  following  upon  the 
other  without  any  interval.'  The  full-spread  sails  of  the 
Crusading  fleet  stood  so  close,  one  beside  the  other,  that  '  it 
looked  as  if  it  were  all  one  wall '  or  one  ship ;  and  the 
whole  of  the  people  of  the  region  came  out  to  see  the  passing 
of  King  Sigurd.  In  honour  of  his  visitor  Alexius  Comnenus 
opened  the  Golden  Gate,  through  which  the  sovereign  only 
was  wont  to  ride,  after  a  long  absence,  or  a  victory  ;  silk 
stuffs  were  spread  over  all  the  streets  of  the  city,  from  the 
Golden  Gate  to  '  Laktiarn '  or  Blachernae,  the  quarter  of  the 
emperor's  finest  palaces ;  and  the  games  were  played  in  the 
Hippodrome  for  the  entertainment  of  the  guests.  The  love 
of  sport  was  strong  in  all  Norsemen,  and  nothing  in  their 
long  journey  was  more  delightful  to  Sigurd's  warriors  than 
the  races  and  contests  of  the  Arena  at  Constantinople. 
Within  '  a  high  wall  built  round  about  a  field,  like  a  round 
bare  Thing-Place,  were  earthen  banks,  and  there  men  sat 
while  the  games  were  held  in  the  open  field.'  Byzantium  was 
1  Ch.  xi.  of  Sigurd's  Saga.  2  Chs.  xi.,  xii.  of  Sigurd's  Saga. 


182  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch 

then  full  of  the  masterpieces  of  ancient  sculpture,  so  many  of 
which  perished  in  the  sacks  of  1204  and  1453,  and  the 
Scandinavian  visitors,  carrying  their  own  traditions  with 
them  everywhere,  looked  on  these  as  '  records  of  the  Asfolk 
and  the  Giukings  and  the  Volsungs ' — figures  worked  in 
copper  and  metal  with  so  much  deftness,  that  they  seemed 
to  be  living  creatures,  and  really  present  at  the  games.1  As 
to  the  sports  themselves,  they  were  so  artfully  managed  that 
men  seemed  to  be  riding  in  the  air ;  and  '  shooting  fires ' 
were  also  displayed,  together  with  the  delights  of  harp- 
playing  and  song  and  all  kinds  of  music. 

At  the  end  of  these  spectacles  the  Norse  leader  prepared 
for  his  return  overland.2  As  to  his  ships,  he  made  a  present 
of  them  to  the  emperor,  who  gave  him  in  exchange  horses 
for  his  men  and  a  guide  through  all  the  Byzantine  lands. 
And  so  pleased  were  the  Northmen  with  the  city  of 
Constantine  and  its  ruler  and  its  people,  that  many  of 
Sigurd's  army  stayed  behind  and  entered  the  Imperial 
Service.  The  rest  with  their  king  marched  home  through 
Bulgaria  and  Hungary,  '  Pannonia '  and  Bavaria,  into 
Suabia,  where  '  Lothaire,  the  Kaiser  of  Eome,'  came  out 
to  meet  and  salute  the  returning  Crusader.  At  midsummer 
the  host  reached  Sleswick ;  and  so,  through  '  Heathby '  and 
Denmark,  they  came  to  their  own  land.  '  And  that  was  the 
talk  of  men,  that  never  had  there  been  a  more  splendid 
journey  out  of  Norway  than  was  the  journey  of  King 
Siuurd.' 3 


1  The  Norsemen  perhaps  mistook 
the  Greek  sculptures  for  statues  of 
their  own  heroes ;  or,  rather,  gave 
their  own  names  to  any  'heroic' 
images     they     saw,      ch.      xii.      of 


probably,  Greek-tire. 

2  Ch.  xiv.  of  Sigurd's  Saga. 

3  After  his  return,  Sigurd  con- 
tracted a  Russian  alliance,  and  married 
the      grand-daughter    of    Yaldimar 


Sigurd's  Saga.     The  '  shooting  tires '       of   Holm-garth    (Vladimir    of    Nov- 
were     probably    tire  -  works;      less       gorod),  ch.  xxi.  of  Sigurd's  Saga. 


in.]       sigurd's  return  :  journey  of  adelard      183 

While  Sigurd  of  Norway  was  still  upon  his  travels, 
Adelard,  or  Athelard,  of  Bath,  started  upon  a  journey  to 
much  the  same  quarter  of  the  world  with  very  different 
objects.  As  a  man  of  science  rather  than  a  devotee,  a 
warrior,  or  a  merchant,  his  visit  to  the  Levant  appears 
mainly  as  one  of  literary  interest.  '  He  sought  out  the 
causes  of  all  things  and  the  mysteries  of  nature  ; '  and  it  was 
with  a  rich  spoil  of  '  letters,'  or  of  manuscripts,  that  he 
returned  to  Europe  to  translate  one  of  the  chief  works  of 
early  Saracen  astronomy,  the  Kliavizmian  Talks,  which  had 
been  compiled  in  the  opening  years  of  the  ninth  century 
under  the  direction  of  the  Caliph  Al-Mamun. 

After  Sigurd  and  Adelard,  the  Catholic  pilgrims  of  this 
period,  down  to  the  fall  of  the  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem,  are 
of  less  interest  and  importance.  The  number  of  these 
devotees  who  journey  to  Syria  from  the  various  distant 
countries  of  Western  Europe  is  immense,  but  among  them 
there  are  few  wTho  have  left  anything  worthy  of  notice.  In 
the  pre-Crusading  Era  there  was  some  reason  to  attempt  an 
enumeration  of  the  religious  travellers  who,  in  the  absence 
of  other  material,  often  represented  (as  in  the  seventh  or 
tenth  centuries)  nearly  all  that  is  known  of  geographical 
movement  in  Christendom.  But,  as  the  Dark  Ages  pass 
into  the  Crusading  time,  we  are  no  longer  left  so  poorly  off. 
From  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century  mediaeval  Christen- 
dom rapidly  develops  a  civilisation  in  which  every 
department  of  human  activity  and  interest  is  gradually 
included.  Among  the  rest,  the  problems  of  the  world's 
shape,  the  positions  of  various  countries,  their  inhabitants 
and  products,  occupy  an  ever-increasing  share  of  attention, 
and  both  from  the  practical  and  the  theoretical  side  the  field 
of  geography  is  explored  afresh.      Pilgrim-travel  thus  falls 


184  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [On. 

into  a  very  secondary  position,  and  a  minute  attention  to 
the  details  of  its  later  history  would  be  entirely  out  of  place  ; 
not  merely  because  it  would  absorb  a  large  amount  of  the 
attention  that  should  be  given  to  more  important  develop 
rnents,  but  also  because  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  find  the 
spirit  of  the  genuine  traveller  so  active  among  the  visitors 
to  the  Holy  Places.  Almost  all  the  later  pilgrims  (from  the 
time  of  Sigurd)  are  of  an  inferior  order  to  the  best  of  the 
earlier  wanderers  among  the  sacred  fields  of  Palestine.  After 
the  first  quarter  of  the  twelfth  century  there  is  hardly 
any  one  who  can  be  compared  with  Arculf,  Willi  bald, 
Bernard,  Saewulf,  or  Daniel ;  in  fact,  men  of  this  type  now 
attempt  something  beyond  mere  pilgrim-travel,  and  those 
who  go  on  the  old  rounds  show  less  and  less  originality, 
power  of  observation,  or  reliable  knowledge,  with  each 
succeeding  century.  As  the  type  degenerates,  its  further 
decline  is  hastened  by  the  compilation  of  standard  guide- 
books, which  may  be  faintly  described  as  legendary  and 
inaccurate,  and  from  which  the  later  pilgrim  narratives 
blindly  copy,  to  the  ever  more  entire  exclusion  of  anything 
independent  or  scholarly.  Two  of  these  hand-books,  known 
as  the  Old  and  the  New  Compendium,  are  the  source  of  most 
of  the  tracts  on  the  Holy  Eoad  which  have  been  left  us, 
under  various  names  from  the  time  of  the  second  Crusade 
to  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Over  a  material  so  poor  in  quality,  so  dependent  in 
character,  it  is  not  worth  while  to  spend  much  time ; 
but  we  may  briefly  notice  a  few  comparatively  valuable 
specimens  of  this  literature,  such  as  the  compilations  of 
the  so-called  Fetellus  about  a.d.  1150,  the  records  of  John 
of  Wtirzburg  and  of  Theoderich  about  1160-70,  the 
pamphlet  of  the  Byzantine  Johannes  Phokas  of  about  1185, 
and  the  notes  of  a  group  of  Anonymous  pilgrim  travellers 


III.]  MINOR    PILGRIMS    OF    CRUSADING    AGE  185 

who  journeyed  to  the  Levant  at  various  times  between 
1115  and  1187. 

But  if  the  Christian  pilgrim-travel  of  the  later  twelfth 
century  is  of  small  moment,  the  Itinerary  of  a  Jewish 
fellow  wanderer  is  among  the  most  valuable  of  the  geo- 
graphical works  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  Reports  of  Rabbi 
Benjamin  of  Tudela  have  usually  been  treated  as  a  pilgrim 
narrative,  and  classed  with  other  Syrian  travels  of  the  same 
period.  But  this  arrangement  is  impossible,  from  any  but 
a  mechanical  point  of  view.  Benjamin  is  a  religious  Jew 
who  visits  the  old  homes  of  his  people,  and  so  describes 
most  of  the  sights  noticed  by  the  Christian  devotees  in  the 
Levant;  but  this  is  only  a  small  part  of  the  truth.  Taken 
as  a  whole,  the  Eabbi's  outlook  is  not  that  of  the  religious 
wayfarer  pure  and  simple.  He  is  first  of  all  a  merchant 
and  a  collector  of  statistics  for  the  use  of  other  Hebrew 
merchants  and  patriots ;  his  visit  to  Palestine  is  only 
incidental  to  a  much  more  extensive  tour;  and  he  really 
forms  a  link  between  the  older  and  narrower  religious  travel 
arid  such  far-reaching  and  mainly  secular  enterprises  as 
the  missions  of  Carpini,  Rubruquis,  and  the  Polos,  to 
Central  and  Further  Asia.  Besides  this,  the  difference  of 
creed  prevents  us  from  grouping  Benjamin  with  the 
Christian  pilgrim  literature,  probably  as  strange  to  him  as  he 
to  it,  and  based  upon  entirely  different  interests  and  objects. 

In  the  remainder  of  this  chapter,  therefore,  we  must 
finish  the  summary  of  Catholic  and  Orthodox  Christian 
pilgrimage  in  the  two  sub-divisions  that  remain  to  be 
considered ; — from  the  complete  establishment  of  the  Latin 
Kingdom  to  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  before  the  arms  of 
Saladin  ; — and  from  the  disasters  of  1187  to  the  middle  of 
the  thirteenth  century  and  the  close  of  the  Crusading  Age. 
After    this,    Benjamin    of    Tudela    and    some    other    Jewish 


186  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

travellers  must  be  treated  by  themselves,  as  an  appendix 
to  the  more  limited  records  of  the  older  pilgrim  wanderings, 
and  an  introduction  to  the  wider  history  of  diplomatic  and 
commercial  intercourse  between  Europe  and  Asia.  That 
commercial  life  which  is  at  the  root  of  so  much  in  both 
mediaeval  and  modern  expansion,  that  element  from  which 
almost  all  progress  of  the  pre-scientific  kind  takes  its 
origin,  is  in  Benjamin  to  a  very  marked  degree,  and 
clearly  separates  him,  as  it  separates  the  Polos,  from  the 
purely  theological  travellers  and  geographers. 

The  short  pilgrim-narrative  which  passes  under  the  name 
of  Fetellus  or  FreteUus,  Archdeacon  of  Antioch,  about  a.d. 
1200,  is  probably  at  least  half  a  century  earlier  in  its  original 
and  longer  form,  and  it  may  perhaps  be  put  back  even  to  a 
time  before  the  year  1150.1  Thus  from  the  context  we  see 
that  it  was  written  before  the  building  of  the  choir  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  in  the  Crusaders'  Church,  and  soon  after  the 
foundation  of  the  Order  of  the  Templars  in  1118.  The 
material  of  our  present  tract  is  of  slight  value,  for  it  is  badly 
arranged,  full  of  legendary  gossip,  and  without  any  literary 
form  ;  it  illustrates,  however,  an  important  class  of  pilgrim 
literature.  This  class  may  be  defined  as  that  of  the  im- 
personal guide-book,  usually  anonymous,  brief,  and  arid  in 
character,  and  in  every  way  contrasting  with  the  other  type 
of  personal  record  guaranteed  by  the  writer's  name,  and  giving 
a  first-hand  account  of  actual  experience.  Examples  of  the 
latter  are  of  course  to  be  found  in  the  chief  pilgrim  narratives 
hitherto  noticed,  such  as  those  of  Saewulf,  Daniel,  and  Sigurd  ; 
of  the  less  valuable  John  of  Wiirzburg  and  John  Phokas  a  little 
later;  and  of  Arculf,  Bernard,  and  Willibald  in  the  earlier 


1  Except  for  the  reference  in  oh. 
xxxiii.  to  the  commencement  of  the 


belongs  to  a  later  period  of  the  twelfth 
century,    at    least    in    its    complete 


'reat  Crusading  Church  at  Tyre,  which    i    stage. 


HI.]        PILGRIM  GUIDES  AND  JOURNALS  ;    FETELLUS       187 

Middle  Ages.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  instances  of  the 
guide-book  class  from  the  time  of  the  Bordeaux  Itinerary ; 
and  here,  in  the  twelfth  century,  we  may  sub-divide  the  same 
under  two  varieties,  a  Latin  and  a  French,  the  latter  repre- 
sented by  the  City  of  Jerusalem,  the  former  by  the  so-called 
Fetellus,  or,  more  exactly,  by  the  anonymous  writer  whom 
Fetellus  re-edited. 

In  his  description  of  Jerusalem  the  author  alludes  to  a 
hospice  for  poor  and  infirm  persons  near  the  Holy  Sepulchre ; 
the  same  establishment  is  mentioned  by  Saewulf ;  and  it 
was  perhaps  a  descendant  of  the  old  house  of  Charles  the 
Great,  described  by  Bernard  the  Wise.  The  Dead  Sea,  over 
which  no  bird  could  fly,  is  here  given  the  unusual  name 
of  '  Eiver  of  the  Devil ' ;  and  the  destruction  of  the  Cities  of 
the  Plain  is  described  as  an  act  due  to  the  instigation  of 
Satan.  The  Asphaltic  Lake  in  which  ancient  ruins  were 
clearly  to  be  seen,  and  in  whose  neighbourhood  wine  and 
water  alike  became  brackish,  produced  not  only  bitumen 
and  gem-like  rock-salt,  but  also  alum  and  mill-stones  of 
peculiar  excellence.  Hebron  was  the  scene  of  the  Creation, 
as  Tabor  was  of  the  earliest  tithe-paying.  For,  like  Daniel 
and  others,  it  is  at  Tabor  that  the  narrative  locates  the 
meeting  of  Abraham  and  Melchisedek,  and  the  payment 
of  tenths  by  the  conqueror  to  the  priest  of  the  Most  High 
God.  The  sacred  land  of  Arabia,  according  to  Fetellus,  was 
at  first  a  solitude  and  a  horror,  but  was  irrigated,  and  so 
made  fertile,  by  Moses.  Mount  Sinai  in  this  country,  the 
ascent  of  which  was  by  3500  steps  cut  in  the  rock,  still 
retained  some  evidence  of  its  special  and  terrible  character  ; 
smoke  and  Hashes  of  fire  continually  issued  from  it;  and  on 
Sabbath  days  there  appeared  upon  the  crest  a  heavenly  light, 
sometimes  lambent  and  like  a  fleece  to  look  at,  sometimes  in 
the  manner  of  lightning  and  with  the  noise  of  thunder.     The 


188  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

monks  and  hermits  who  now  lived  there  had  the  repute  of 
extraordinary  sanctity,  and  men  knew  and  revered  them 
from  the  furthest  borders  of  Persia  to  those  of  Ethiopia.  As 
to  the  latter,  the  legend  of  Moses'  conquest  of  the  same  is 
here  repeated ;  while  Mount  Hor  or  Petra  is  described  with 
a  special  enthusiasm  for  the  beauty  of  its  scenery,  and  the 
death  of  Aaron  on  this  mountain  becomes  in  the  pilgrim 
the  story  of  a  translation  into  Heaven. 

Malbech  or  Baalbek,  founded  by  Solomon,  who  called  it 
the  '  House  of  the  Forest  of  Lebanon,'  is  the  repetition  of  a 
local  tradition  l  which  still  survives  ;  like  John  of  Wiirzburg 
and  Daniel  of  Kiev,  Fetellus,  in  giving  the  ordinary  names 
of  Jor  and  Dan,  apparently  makes  the  latter  answer  to  the 
Hieromax,  while  the  former  or  true  Jordan  is  described 
with  fair  accuracy,  'becoming  a  lake  near  Baneas,'  and 
afterwards  passing  from  the  marsh  of  Gennesareth  or  Merom 
into  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  It  is  probably  from  the  strange 
philology  of  the  Old  Compendium  that  our  present  summary 
copies  the  'Hebrew'  name  of  Aulon  for  the  Jordan  depression  ; 
from  Moslem  sources  is,  perhaps,  derived  the  strange  ex- 
planation of  the  sweetness  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  dependent  on 
its  receiving  from  outside  all  that  would  pollute  other  waters. 

At  Samaria  this  narrative  places  the  burial  and  original 
tomb  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  here  agreeing  with  a  very  old 
local  tradition  noticed  by  St.  Jerome ;  the  Samaritan  story 
of  the  offering  of  Isaac  on  Mount  Gerizim  is  also  reproduced ; 
and  we  cannot  help  supposing  that  the  compiler  must  have 
visited  this  region  and  been  in  special  relations  with  some  of 
the  Samaritan  community. 

Along  witli  many  wild  statements  of  distances  there  are 
equally  wild  identifications  of  places,  persons,  and  historical 
events ;  thus  Antioch  was  the  same  as  Eiblah  or  Eeblata 
1  It  occurs  also  in  Uenjamiu  of  Tudela. 


III.]        FETELLUS    ON    JERUSALEM    AND    PALESTINE        189 

uear  Baalbek;1  Dor  was  but  another  name  for  Caesarea,  as 
Eramaus  for  Eleutheropolis ;  the  temple  hill  was  the  Bethel 
of  Jacob's  vision  ;  Tyre  was  founded  by  Phoenicians  from 
the  Bed  Sea ;  the  army  of  Sennacherib  was  destroyed 
between  Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem ;  and  the  Holy  City  was 
founded  by  Melchisedek,  who  was  identical  with  Shem  the 
Patriarch.  Copying  evidently  from  the  same  source  as 
John  of  Wiirzburg  and  the  Anonymous  pseudo-Beda, 
Fetellus  calls  the  Mosque  of  Omar  the  building  of  a 
certain  Amir  of  Memphis  ;  and  close  to  this,  he  adds,  were  the 
dwellings  of  the  Templars,  the  new  Christian  soldiers  who 
guarded  Jerusalem,  and  had  special  charge  of  the  Noble 
Sanctuary,  using  the  vaults  of  Solomon's  palace  for  their 
stables. 

At  Acre,  as  the  present  guide-book  truly  remarks,  there 
was  now  constantly  arriving  a  great  number  of  ships  from 
the  sea  coast  under  Christian  rule,  between  Ascalon  and 
Mount  Taurus ;  and  hither  the  needful  supplies  of  Asia 
Mowed  from  Africa  and  Europe.  This  item  of  fact  forms  a 
welcome  change  to  the  legends  with  which  Fetellus  ends 
his  Compendium — stories  of  the  cave  near  Jerusalem  to 
which  a  lion  conveyed  in  one  night  the  bodies  of  12,000 
martyrs;  of  the  miracles  of  St.  Saba  when  he  entertained 
Thomas  of  Madaba  in  the  country  of  the  Arabs  ;  of  the 
miraculous  Eikon  at  Beyrout,  mentioned  by  so  many 
pilgrims  ;  and  of  the  peculiar  physical  construction  of  the 
crocodiles  at  Caesarea,  who  lacked  an  anus  and  could  only 
move  their  upper  jaws. 

If    Fetellus    supplies    us    with    a   fair   specimen    of   the 

1  Haifa,  also,  in  F.'s  mind,  was  no  [    rightly    identified    with    Lydda,    is 

other   than    Porphyrium    (North    of  humorously    explained    as    meaning 

Sidon).     This  mistake  is  apparently  '  Double  City. ' 
from  the  Old  Compendium.  Diospolis, 


190  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

anonymous  compilation  which  served  as  a  hand-book  to 
twelfth-century  pilgrims,  John  of  Wiirzburg  is  an  evidence 
that  the  spirit  of  the  explorer  and  observer  was  still  active 
among  some  of  these  devotees,  even  after  the  firm  establish- 
ment of  the  Latin  Principalities  of  the  Orient.  The  German 
cleric  who  now  comes  forward  with  a  singularly  vivid  and 
interesting  narrative  (soon  after  the  second  Crusade  to  all 
seeming  had  established  the  Christian  power  in  Syria  on  a 
tinner  basis  than  ever),  may  well  compare  in  some  respects 
with  such  a  traveller  as  Saewulf.  For  though  the  younger 
man  has  left  us  a  shorter  and  slighter  record,  he  has  given 
a  more  distinct  impression  of  his  personality  and  his  feelings  ; 
and  if  we  are  to  take  him  as  the  teacher  and  leader  of 
Theoderich,  his  place  is  still  more  important  in  this  obscure 
branch  of  the  history  of  travel. 

John,  a  priest  of  the  Church  of  Wiirzburg,  and  afterwards 
bishop  of  that  city,  according  to  one  authority,1  seems  to 
have  visited  Jerusalem  between  1160  and  1170;  and  here 
on  St.  James'  Day,  the  25th  of  July,  he  was  present 2  at  a 
festival  in  the  Church  of  St.  Anne.  Some 3  believe  that  John's 
description  of  the  Holy  Land  was  written  soon  after  the 
year  1200 ;  but  in  any  case  his  visit  must  have  taken  place 
before  Saladin's  recapture  of  Jerusalem  in  1187.  It  is  also 
probable  that  his  visit  occurred  just  before  the  Byzantine 
restoration  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  buildings  which  Theoderich 
witnessed.  The  two  pilgrims  were  probably  well  acquainted 
with  one  another,  for  John  dedicates  his  work  to  a  Dietrich, 
who  seems  to  be  no  other  than  Theoderich. 

Our  present  narrative  is  nominally  limited  to  a  description 

1  The    manuscript    at    Tegernsee,  John,    Bishop    of   Wiirzburg.      His 

which  declares  itself  to  be  the  pro-  name,  however,  is  not  in  the  registers 

perty  of  the  Monastery  of  St.  Quirinus  of  the  bishops  of  this  See. 

(at    Tegernsee),    and    to    contain    a  '2  Ch.  xvi. 

description  of  Palestine  by  the  Lord  :i  E.g.  Fabricius, 


Ill]  JOHN    OF    WUJRZBURG  191 

of  Jerusalem  and  the  immediate  neighbourhood ;  but  this 
limitation  is  ignored  in  practice ;  and  a  detailed  account 
of  the  sacred  places  of  Galilee  is  also  given,  in  which  *the 
compiler  has  apparently  used  an  older  and  now  lost  guide- 
book. On  the  other  hand,  while  John  of  Wurzburg  dis- 
tinctly alludes  to  the  famous  record  of  Bede  and  Arculf, 
he  does  not  quote  the  words  or  phrases  of  that  narrative, 
nor  does  he  follow  its  arrangement  of  the  subject-matter. 
But  in  many  places  his  expressions  are  identical  with  those  • 
of  Theoderich ;  and,  while  it  is  possible  that  herein  the  latter 
may  have  simply  copied  from  one  whom  he  regarded  as 
his  teacher,  there  are  various  indications  that  both  pilgrims 
drew  from  the  standard  travel-manual  commonly  called 
the    Old   Compendium. 

'  John,  who  by  the  grace  of  God  is  that  which  he  is  in 
the  Church  of  Wti.rzbu.rg,'  after  offering  his  description  of 
the  Holy  Land,  with  all  good  wishes  for  a  '  portion  in  the 
Heavenly  Jerusalem,'  to  his  friend  and  follower  Dietrich, 
begins  his  itinerary  at  Nazareth,  'the  chief  town  of  Galilee,' 
and  thence  proceeds  to  Mount  Tabor,  Little  Herinon,  and 
various  other  places  of  Galilee  and  Central  Palestine.  So 
at  last  he  brings  the  reader  through  Samaria  and  Sichem  up 
to  Jerusalem,  the  '  glorious  metropolis  '  of  Judaea.  '  Accord- 
ing to  philosophers,'  the  Holy  City  was  placed  in  the  middle 
of  the  world ;  and  here  among  other  wonders  was  that 
Temple  of  which  Pharaoh  Necho  had  been  the  destroyer, 
and  Nebuchadnezzar  the  despoiler.  Elsewhere,  the  pilgrim 
seems  to  believe  that  the  building  of  Solomon  was  identical 
with  that  in  which  Christ  was  presented,  Its  restoration 
in  the  Christian  period  had  been  effected  by  Helena,  mother 
of  Constantine,  by  Heraclius,  by  Justinian,  and  by  some 
Emperor  of  'Memphis'  in  Egypt — thus  John  mentions 
various   traditions  without  indicating  any  preference.     The 


192  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

last  name  is  evidently  the  confusion  of  a  guide-book  in 
common  use,  which  informed  the  traveller  that  a  Saracen 
chief  (elsewhere  termed  the  '  Admiral  Memphis '  or  '  Nym- 
phis ')  rebuilt  '  this  Bethel '  in  honour  of  '  God  most  High,1 
because  to  Him  all  languages  joined  in  rendering  service.' 
Incidentally,  John  alludes  to  an  interesting  but  entirely 
fabulous  journey  of  the  Great  King  Charles  to  this 
place,  where  an  angel  from  Heaven  presented  him  with 
a  very  holy  relic,2  which  was  brought  into  the  West,  and 
had  a  remarkable  history.  Charlemagne  placed  it  in  his 
capital  of  Aachen  or  Aix-la-Chapelle  'in  Gaul';  Charles 
the  Bald  translated  it  to  the  Church  of  Charroux  in  Poitou ; 
and  in  John's  time  it  was  still  preserved  there.  Here  we 
see  how  the  story  had  grown  of  the  Frank  emperor's 
share  in  the  history  of  Jerusalem,  and  how  his  real 
interest  in  Christian  monuments  and  his  authentic  pro- 
vision for  the  comfort  of  Christian  wayfarers  had  been 
worked  up  into  a  series  of  sacred  wanderings  parallel 
to  those  of  the  mediaevalised  Alexander. 

Among  other  details  we  may  notice  that  the  'Altar 
which  stood  in  the  open  air '  on  the  Temple  area  had 
been  turned  by  the  Saracens  into  a  sun-dial ;  and  John 
himself  declares  that  many  Moslems  still  came  to  pray 
there,  as  this  dial  conveniently  pointed  towards  Mecca 
and  the  South.  Again  in  the  Palace  of  Solomon,  at  the 
south-east  corner  of  the  Harani  area,  were  the  stables  of 
Solomon,  of  such  size  that  2000  horses  or  1500  camels 
could  be  stalled  therein ;  and  near  to  this  the  Knights 
Templars  had  a  great  enclosure  containing  many  spacious 
buildings,  and  a  large  new  church  not  yet  finished.  John 
compares  the  Order  of  the  Temple  of  God  with  its  rival 
of  the  Hospital,  much  to  the  advantage  of  the  latter,  which 

1  A  Hah  frebir.  •  Ch.  iii.  of  John  of  Wiirzbnrg. 


III.]  JOHN    OF    WtJRZBURG  103 

gave  ten  times  more  in  alms,  and  lay  under  no  aspersion 
of  treachery  to  the  common  cause  like  the  Templars.1 
The  inscriptions,  hymns,  and  memorial  verses  (here  re- 
corded) in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  on  Mount 
Sion  and  elsewhere,  are  a  new  feature  in  our  Latin  records 
of  Palestine  pilgrimage,  and  show  how  elaborately  every- 
thing had  been  arranged  under  the  Latin  Kingdom  for  the 
convenience  and  instruction  of  Christian  visitors ;  but  the 
ornaments  added  by  Manuel  Comnenus 2  (which  soon 
after  figure  so  prominently)  do  not  appear  as  yet.  It 
is  remarkable  that  John  makes  no  mention  of  the  Holy  Tire 
described  by  Theoderich,  and  indeed  by  most  pilgrims  from 
the  time  of  Bernard  the  Wise.3  But  in  speaking  of  the 
Tomb  of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  he  launches  out  in  a  vigorous 
protest,  on  behalf  of  his  German  kinsmen,  against  the 
French  claim  to  the  leading  or  exclusive  share  in  the 
victories  of  the  Crusaders.  '  For  though  Duke  Godfrey  is 
honoured  for  himself,  yet  the  taking  of  the  city  is  not 
credited  to  him  and  his  Germans,  although  they  had  no 
small  share  in  that  exploit ;  but  it  is  attributed  to  the 
French  alone.  And  some  dispraisers-  of  our  nation  have 
even  scratched  out  the  epitaph  on  the  famous  Wigger,4 
because  they  could  not  deny  that  he  was  a  German,  and 
have  written  over  it  the  epitaph  of  some  French  Knight 
or  other.  True  it  is  that  Godfrey  and  his  brother  Baldwin, 
who  was  king  in  Jerusalem  after  him,  were  men  of  our 
country.  Yet  since  only  a  few  of  our  people  remained, 
and   the    rest   in    great   haste   and  home-sickness  returned, 

1  Alluding  to  the  abortive  Siege  of 
Damascus  in  July  1148,  when  the 
Templars  were  accused  of  taking 
Saracen  bribes  ;  cf.  John  of  W.,  ch.  v. 

2  1143-1180.  His  gifts  to  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  were  probably  after  1170. 

*  Cf.  Theoderich,  ch.  vii.  ;  also  the 


reference  of  the  almost  contemporary 
Icelandic  travellers  (Soc.  de  I'Or.  Lat., 
and  see  Riant,  Scandinavcs  en  terre 
Sainte,  226-300  ;  Antiqultes  muses,  ii. 
418,  422). 

4  Wicker   of    Suabia.      This    out- 
burst is  in  ch.  xiii. 


194  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

the  entire  city  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  other  nations1 
who  took  part  in  the  Crusade,  Frenchmen,  Lorrainers, 
Normans,  Provencals,  Auvergnats,  Italians,  Spaniards,  and 
Burgundians.  And  thus  no  part  of  Jerusalem,  not  even 
in  the  smallest  street,  was  set  apart  for  the  Germans ;  -  for 
they  themselves  took  no  care  in  the  matter,  as  they  had  no 
intention  of  remaining ;  and  so  their  names  were  never 
mentioned,  and  to  the  Franks  alone  was  ascribed  the  glory. 
Yet  this  province  would  long  ago  have  extended  its 
boundaries  beyond  the  Nile  southward,  and  beyond 
Damascus  northward,  if  herein  were  as  great  a  number 
of  Germans  as  of  other  nations.' 

In  spite  of  these  complaints,  however,  John  tells  us 
a  little  later  of  a  church  newly  built  and  called  the  House 
of  the  Germans,  on  the  south  side  of  the  city,  between 
Sion  and  Moriah :  but  on  this  (he  adds,  with  a  grievance 
even  in  his  admission)  hardly  any  except  Germans  bestowed 
the  smallest  benefaction.  At  some  of  the  places  near 
Jerusalem,  the  Wilrzburg  traveller  explains,  describes,  or 
comments  in  a  rather  unusual  manner — as  at  Hebron,  a  city 
of  Saracenic  name,  which  in  that  language  meant  the  City 
of  Four,  because  four  patriarchs  were  buried  in  the  double 
cave  of  Machpelah;3  at  Tyre,  where  the  Tomb  of  Origen  is 
noticed ;  and  in  the  Ghor,  or  Jordan  rift- valley,  which  the 
writer   defines,  under  the  term  of  Avion,4  as  stretching  from 


1  Elsewhere  in  the  concluding  ch. 
(xxvii).  John  gives  another  list  of 
nations  and  languages  represented  in 


definitely  of  a  Rue  des  Alemans  in 
Jerusalem. 

3  Adam,      Abraham,      Isaac     and 


Jerusalem,    adding     the    names     of  !  Jacob.      The  Bordeaux   Pilgrim  and 

Greeks,      Bulgarians.       Hungarians,  many  of  the  early  Christian  travellers 

Scots,  English,  Bretons,  Ruthenians  i  give  only  three  ;  but  Adam  is  men- 

or  Russians,  Bohemians,  Georgians,  I  tioned   by   St.    Paula,  and    becomes 


Armenians,  Jacobites,  Nestorians, 
Maronites,  Syrians.  Indians,  Egyp- 
tians, Copts,  and  '  Capheturiei.' 


gradually  fixed  in  the  tradition. 

4  John,    like   Fetellus    and    many 
others    (e.g.     some     of     the     Im 


-  But  a    few   year     later  Ave   hear    '    minaii),    copies     the     tradition    of 


III.] 


JOHN    OF    WURZBURG 


195 


Lebanon  to  the  desert  of  Pharan.  It  is  not  likely  that  the 
pilgrim  visited  Mount  Koyal,1  that '  royal  mountain  in  Arabia 
which  the  Lord  Baldwin,  King  of  the  Franks  in  Jerusalem, 
conquered  and  joiued  to  that  land  for  the  Christians.'  This 
fortress  was  east  of  the  Jordan,  between  Kerak  and  Petra, 
far  to  the  south-east  of  the  Dead  Sea ;  it  was  one  of  the 
greatest  of  the  Christian  fortresses  in  the  East ;  and  from 
its  foundation  in  1115  it  kept  open  the  route  from  Central 
Palestine  to  the  Eed  Sea.  The  country  of  Idumaea  or 
Edom,  to  which  it  really  belonged,  becomes,  in  John's 
hands,  an  extensive  and  peculiar  region ;  for  here  he  places 
the  venerable  metropolis  of  Damascus,  Job's  Uz,  and  the 
river  Jabbok,  as  well  as  Mount  Seir,'2  beneath  which  lay 
Damascus  itself.  In  the  same  land  was  Mount  Lebanon 
with  its  rivers,  Orontes  and  Leontes  (evidently  intended  by 
the  traveller's  'Abana  and  Pharphar,  rivers  of  Damascus'),8 
and  Antioch,  where  for  seven  years  '  St.  Peter  wore  the 
pontifical  tiara.'  Such  confusions  are  common  enough 
among  all  the  travellers  of  this  time,  when  unable  to  verify 
from  personal  experience ;  and  they  do  not  weaken  the 
impression  given  us  by  other  parts  of  this  '  libel ' — the  impres- 
sion of  a  distinct  personality,  keenly  patriotic  and  observant, 
and  perhaps  not  without  a  certain  just  pride  in  his  assurance 
to  those  who  came  after  him,  that  he  would  not  be  envious 
of  any  one  who  '  wrote  better  about  those  matters '  which 
he  had  attempted  to  describe. 

Theoderich,  as  we  have    seen,  is   probably  the  Dietrich 


the  '  Hebrew '  Aulon  or  Avion  ;  see 
elis.  xx.  and  xxv.  This  Greek  name 
was  already  in  use  for  the  Jordan 
valley  and  the  Arabah  in  Jerome's 
time.  Even  the  form  of  Ghor  (Gorius 
in  John)  is  not  Hebrew  but  Arabic. 


1  Commonly  known  in  Crusading 
History  as  Le  Crete  de  Montreal,  and 
called  Shaubac  by  the  Arabs. 

-  Mount  Hermon,  in  this  con- 
nection, is  evidently  meant. 

a  See  ch.  xxv,  of  John  of  Wurzburg 


19G 


PILGRIM    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


mentioned  by  John  of  Wiirzburg  as  the  follower  to  whom  he 
dedicates  his  record.  Possibly  also  he  was  the  same  as  the 
Theoderich  who  became  Bishop  of  Wiirzburgin  1223.1  Like 
his  master  John,  he  was  a  German  of  the  Ehine  country ; 
thus  he  compares  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  with  the 
sacred  buildings  at  Aachen,  and  mentions  how  on  Palm 
Sunday  he  and  his  friends  buried,  in  the  Potter's  Field  near 
Jerusalem,  a  companion  named  Adolf  of  Cologne. 

Theoderich's   narrative   is   quite    as    full,    definite,    and 
interesting   as     John's,   and   gives   as    great   an   impression 
of  the  intelligent  eye-witness.      Thus,2  the  people  shouting 
their  '  dex  aide '  and  '  Saint  Sepulchre '  while  waiting,  '  not 
without   tears,'    for    the    descent   of    the   Holy    Eire;    the 
stacking  up  of  the  pilgrim  crosses  on  the  top  of  the  rock 
of  Calvary  and  the  bonfire  made  of  them  on  Holy  Saturday ; 
the  piling  up  of  stones  in  the  Valley  of  Hinnom  by  the 
too  trustful   pilgrims,    who  expected   to  sit  upon  them  on 
the    Day    of    Judgment ; 3    the    evidences  of  the  power   of 
the    Templars    and    of    the    wealth    and    charity    of    the 
Hospitallers ;  the  throng  of  ships  in  the  dangerous  harbour 
of  Acre  and  the  pilgrim's  own  buss  among  them  ;  the  Saracen 
habit  of  making  a  great  noise  about  the  simplest    things, 
even  the   ploughing  of  a  field;    and  the  view  from  Quar- 
antania,   the    so-called   Mountain    of   the  Temptation,   over 
the  plain  of  the  Jordan  Valley,  covered  with  pilgrim  fi cures  ■ 
all  these  are  touches  which  mark  the  observer  and  even 
the    artist.     Similar    traces   of    reality,   not    without    their 
picturesque  side  as  well,  are  the  Frank  names  of  Belmont, 
Fontenoid,    and    Montjoye,    which   appear    so    typically   in 
these  pages  by  the  side  of  Jerusalem  and  Hebron.      Like 


1  This,   however,   is  open  to  much 
doubt. 

2  Cf.  Tobler. 


3  Theoderich,  however,  looks  on 
this  as  a  pious  absurdity ;  '  the  simple 
pilgrims  delight  themselves,'  etc, 


til.]  THEODERICH  197 

John  of  Wiirzburg,  Theoderich  gives  us  a  picture  of  the 
Holy  Land  in  the  last  days  of  Frankish  rule,  still  dominated 
by  Frankish  customs  and  nomenclature,  and  covered  by 
Frankish  buildings. 

Our  pilgrim  seems  to  have  landed  at  Acre,  to  have  gone 
thence  direct  to    Jerusalem,  to   have   visited   Jericho    and 
the  Jordan,  and  to  have  returned  by  much  the  same  road. 
The  confusion  of  his  account  of  the  Sea  of  Gennesareth  must 
be  held  as  an  objection  to  the  theory  of  Tobler,  that  he  made 
a  special  journey  in  Galilee,  visiting  Nazareth,  Mount  Tabor, 
and   Tiberias.      From    one  reference *   it   is   clear   that   the 
writer  was  a  priest ;    but  the  exact  date  of  his  journey  can 
only  be  suggested   approximately.     Thus,   in   one  place  he 
refers  to  the  execution  of   some  monks  by  the  fanatic  2  and 
'  sanguinary '  Zenghi,  the  Father  of  Nur-ed-din  ; 3  and  else- 
where he  names  the  patriarch  Fulcher,4  who  held  the  See 
from  1146   to  1157.     Once  more,  an    inscription   which   he 
read  on  an  altar5  in  the  Temple  of  the  Lord  declared  that 
the  building  of  the  same  was  finished  in  the  fifty-third  year 
after  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  and  in  the  sixty-third  after 
the  capture  of  Antioch  ;  and  this,  though  a  confused  reference, 
anyhow   implies    a   time   subsequent    to    1150.      Again   he 
gives  the  date  of  1161  to  the  Christian  capture  of  Paneas,6 
Banias,  or  Belinas,  near  the  sources  of  the  Jordan ;    and  in 
his  description  of  the  tombs  of  the  kings  of  Jerusalem  he 
brings   us   down   to    Amaury  or   Amalrich,  in   whose   reign 

1  Ch.  xxix.  |    (f  14th  September  1146). 

'Theoderich,  eh.  xxx.      Imad-ed-    I        3  Nur-ed-din  Mahrmid,  1 15th  May 
din   Zenghi,   the   great   leader,   who   J    1174. 


first  stemmed  the  Crusading  con- 
quests in  the  Levant,  was  usually 
called  '  Sanguineus '  by  the  Latin 
writers  of  the  time  ;  and  this  cor-  | 
ruption  of  his  name,  as  Gibbon 
says,  afforded  a  comfortable  allusion 
to  his  sanguinary  character  and  end 


4  Theoderich,  ch.  xii.  Exactly  the 
same  reference  is  given  by  John  of 
Wiirzburg,  ch.  xiii.  (except  for  the 
name  of  Fulcher). 

5  Theoderich,  ch.  xv. 

6  Theoderich,  ch.  xlv. 


198  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

he  certainly  made  his  pilgrimage,  and  who  died  on  the  11th 
of  June,  1173.  Lastly,  he  laments  that  he  was  unable  to 
read  the  inscriptions  on  the  arches  in  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
as  the  colouring  was  so  faded,  except  for  the  hymn  Ohristus 
Resurgens,  which  was  marked  out  in  letters  of  gold,  newly 
gilded,  like  the  turret  or  cupola  and  the  cross  above  the 
chapel.1  All  this  John  of  Wiirzburg  had  seen  in  silver  only  ; 
and  the  difference  points  to  Theoderich's  visit  happening 
during  the  restorations  of  the  Byzantine  Emperor,  Manuel 
Comnenus,  which  took  place  between  1169  and  1180.  The 
two  German  travellers,  however,  use  exactly  the  same 
language  about  the  new  church,  not  yet  finished,  which  the 
Templars  were  building  on  Mount  Moriah ;  on  the  other 
hand,  John  refers  to  another  church  'now  being  built'  over 
Jacob's  Well  at  Shechem,  while  Theoderich  speaks  of  it  as 
complete.  But  this,  again,  we  must  balance  by  an  exactly 
reverse  statement  as  to  the  Church  of  the  Paternoster.  A 
new  cistern,  apparently  the  Birket-es- Sultan,  is  mentioned  by 
Theoderich  between  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem  ;  and  the 
discovery  of  this  is  first  confirmed  by  other  sources  in  1176. 
From  all  this  we  may  conclude  that  Theoderich's  journey 
was  between  1169  and  1173  (the  death  of  Amalrich),  and 
that  it  was  only  a  little  later  than  the  visit  of  John  of 
Wiirzburg.  His  wanderings  in  Palestine  were  evidently  in 
the  spring  of  the  year ;  he  saw  the  ripe  barley  in  the  Plain 
of  Jericho  on  Monday  in  Holy  Week  ;  and  on  the  Wednesday 
after  Easter  he  was  at  Acre  on  his  return  journey. 

In  his  description  of  Judaea  Theoderich  places  Idumaea 
to  the  north  of  '  Jewry  ' ;  and  considers  the  rich  plain  of  the 
Jordan  to  extend  as  far  as  the  Red  Sea.  From  Mount 
Quarantania  he  beheld  a  most  extensive  view,  reaching 
beyond  Jericho  and  the  '  Stream  of  Descent '  to  the  Dead 

1  Theoderich.  eh.  v. 


HI  I  THEOPERICH  |     JOHANNES    PFOKAS  199 

Sea,  Arabia,  and  even  Egypt;  and  it  was  here  that  he  saw 
more  than  sixty  thousand  pilgrims  thronging  over  the  flat 
plain  to  wash  in  the  waters  of  the  sacred  river,  almost  all 
carrying  candles,  and  visible  also  to  the  infidels  who  watched 
them  from  the  Arab  mountains  on  the  other  side  of  Jordan. 
In  some  respects  Theoderich's  Topography  is  better  than  the 
average;  thus  he  carefully  distinguishes  Caesarea  Philippi 
from  Caesarea  on  the  coast ;  and  it  is  probably  from  an  earlier 
'  authority,'  such  as  the  Old  Compendium,  that  he  derives  his 
worst  confusions, — Damascus  standing  on  Mount  Seir,  the 
rivers  '  Abana  and  Pharphar '  flowing  into  the  Mediterranean 
along  the  courses  of  Orontes  and  Leontes ; x  Mount  Lebanon 
dividing  Phoenicia  from  '  Idumaea  ' ; 2  and  the  Jordan  passing 
through  the  Sea  of  Galilee  between  Bethsaida  and  Capernaum. 

The  pamphlet  of  Johannes  Phokas  is  one  of  the  last 
records  of  pilgrim-travel  within  the  period  of  the  Latin  Pule 
in  Jerusalem  ;  and  it  is  of  special  interest  as  representing 
Byzantine  geography.  The  writer  was  a  Cretan  by  birth, 
and  the  son  of  one  Matthew  Phokas,  who  afterwards  became 
a  monk  and  died  in  the  Island  of  Patmos.  In  his  early  life 
Johannes  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  army  of  Manuel  Comnenus  ; 
but  in  the  end  he  took  the  monastic  vows,  like  his  father, 
and  it  was  as  a  monk  that  he  visited  the  Holy  Land  in  1185. 

In  his  Brief  Description  of  the  Castles  and  Cities  from 
Antioch  to  Jerusalem  he  often  mentions  the  Emperor 
Manuel ;  other  personal  reference  is  almost  wanting  in 
his  work,  except  that  near  the  Jordan  he  mentions  a  Spanish 
hermit  who  had  formerly  been  a  Stylite  or  Pillar-Saint  near 
the  Gulf  of  Adalia  or  Attalia  ;  this  man  he  had  met  in 
earlier  days  when  marching  with  the  Imperial  forces.  The 
author's  style  in  this  work  is  quite  literary,  and  even  rhe- 

1   Exactly  the  same  in  John  of  W.  2  Perhaps  for  Ituraea. 


200  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

torical,  in  marked  contrast  to  the  ordinary  pilgrim  traveller ; 
he  also  shows  a  greater  interest  in  classical  antiquities  and 
profane  history  and  letters  than  most  of  his  kind ;  and  he 
furnishes  a  proof  that  mediaeval  Constantinople,  with  all 
its  faults,  was  more  cultivated  than  most  cities  and  countries 
of  the  West, 

After  a  short  preface,  Phokas  begins  with  a  notice  of 
Antioch ;  once  it  surpassed  almost  all  the  cities  of  the  East; 
time  and  the  hands  of  the  Barbarians  had  extinguished  its 
prosperity ;  but  it  still  boasted  of  its  lofty  ramparts  and 
towers.  The  famous  hill  Casius  or  Caucasus,  whose  height 
was  so  favourite  a  theme  for  ancient  hyperbole,  is  less 
interesting  to  the  traveller  than  the  classical  remains  and 
the  scenes  of  the  exploits  of  various  holy  solitaries.  Next 
to  Antioch  came  Laodicea,1  whose  splendour  had  also  been 
dimmed  by  time;  then  by  way  of  Gabala,  Gibel,  or  Jebeleh, 
the  pilgrim  moved  on  to  Antaradus  (Tartus  or  Tortosa)  and 
Tripolis.  In  the  interior  of  the  country,  among  the  moun- 
tains, Phokas  describes  the  Chasysii  or  Assassins,  a  Saracen 
nation,  but  neither  belonging  to  Islam  or  Christendom, 
and  famous  for  their  blind  worship  of  their  chief  as  God's 
Ambassador,  and  for  their  execution  of  his  commands,  even 
to  the  murder  of  the  greatest  princes.  Mount  Lebanon  is 
treated  with  enthusiasm ;  its  height,  its  clustering  robes 
of  snow,  and  its  pine,  cedar,  Cyprus,  and  fruit-bearing  trees,  all 
awake  the  visitor's  admiration ;  while  the  harbours  of 
Beyrout  and  Sidon  remind  him  of  ancient  descriptions,  and 
especially  that  of  Achilles  Tatius2  in  his  Lr.ukij^e,  The 
city  of  Tyre  was  still  splendid,  exceeding  almost  all  the 
ports  of  Phoenicia ;  much  larger  than  Tripolis,  with  a  greater 

1  Ch,  iii.  of  Johannes  Phokas.  of  the  Greek  Romance,  The  Loves  of 

2  Alexandrian      rhetorician      and       Kleitophon  and  Leuhippe. 
novelist  of  about  a.d.  450-510.  author 


HI.]  JOHANNES    PHOKAS  201 

and  finer  harbour  than  Beyrout,  and  famous  for  a  fountain 
of  wonderful  depth  and  volume.  On  all  this  coast,  however, 
Ptolemais  or  Acre  was  the  most  populous  town,  where  nearly 
all  merchants  and  pilgrims  landed,  and  where  (from  this 
very  circumstance)  prevailed  a  constantly-recurring  pestilence 
and  an  irredeemable  unhealthiness  which  made  it  highly 
dangerous  to  visit.1 

Phokas  next  describes  the  Holy  Places  of  Nazareth  and 
its  neighbourhood ;  then  from  Galilee  he  comes  south  to 
Nabliis  and  Jerusalem,  travelling  along  a  good  road,  all 
paved  with  stone,  which  ran  the  whole  distance  between 
Samaria  and  the  Holy  City.2  Here  the  traveller,  who  often 
declines  to  repeat  without  examination  the  stories  retailed 
to  visitors,  quotes  Josephus3  against  the  name  Tou-er  of 
David,  as  applied  to  the  ancient  fortress  by  the  Jaffa  Gate, 
and  adds  with  cautious  criticism  that  the  existing  tower  of 
stone  was  perhaps  only  a  substitute  for  the  ancient  one  of 
marble.  Passing  on  to  other  things,  Phokas  records  how  new 
ornamentation  in  gold  had  been  executed  for  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  at  the  expense  of  the  Emperor  Manuel,  '  my  lord 
and  master';  and  like  his  Orthodox  brother,  Daniel  of 
Kiev,  describes  the  Kedron  Convent  of  Mar  Saba,  over- 
hanging a  terrific  chasm,  and  adorned  with  marbles  from 
the  surrounding  hills,  where  holy  men,  despising  the  world, 
endured  the  unbearable  heat  of  this  barren  and  savage 
gorge,  and  'thus  by  means  of  quenchable  lire  extinguished 
the  unquenchable.' 4  Still  more  wonderful  was  the 
Monastery  of  Khoziba,  in  the  depths  of  the  wilderness  of 
Judaea,  where  the  cells  lay  in  the  mouths  of  caves ;  where 


1  Chs.  iv.-ix.  of  Johannes  Phokas. 

2  Chs.        x.-xiv.       of       Johannes 
Phokas. 

3  Who    declared   this    Tower    was 


'while  now  it  may  be  seen  to  be  of 
common  stone.' 

4  Among   the   saints   buried    her? 
were  the  ancient  poets,  S3.   Kosmas 


built     of    polished     white     marble,    i    and  John  (of  Damascus '(). 


202  PILGKIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

the  rock  was  heated  by  the  sun  till  one  could  see  tongues 
of  flame  bursting  forth  from  it ;  and  where  the  only  drink- 
ing water  of  the  miserable  ascetics  received  the  full  heat 
of  the  noonday  glare.  Yet  the  monks  of  the  Dead  Sea 
coast  did  not  pass  their  whole  life  in  devotion ;  they  par- 
celled out  the  land,  planted  trees  and  crops,  and  grew  vines, 
building  towers  for  the  better  care  of  their  fields ; l  but  the 
old  Konian  roads  had  fallen  into  decay,  and  the  outlines  of 
their  stone  pavements  could  only  be  faintly  traced.  Within 
two  bow-shots  of  Jordan,  the  most  holy  of  rivers,  was 
another  monastery  which  Manuel  had  restored ;  and  among 
other  pious  works  of  the  same  benefactor  in  this  neighbour- 
hood Phokas  reckons  the  monastery  of  Mar  Elias,  between 
Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem,  and  the  great  Church  at  Bethlehem, 
where  the  portrait  of  the  Byzantine  Emperor  had  been  placed 
in  the  part  reserved  for  the  Latin  rite.2  In  the  vicinity  of 
the  sacred  stream  lived  a  Stylite  Saint  from  the  far  West, 
'  a  tall  old  Spaniard,  pleasing  and  admirable,  adorned  with  a 
species  of  Divine  grace,'  and  full  of  wonderful  tales  of 
miraculous  support  from  the  devout  assistance  of  a  lion. 
Still  nearer  to  Jerusalem  were  other  traces  of  Spanish 
devotion ; — a  holy  solitary  from  this  country,  tenanting  the 
Pillar  or  Castle  of  Absalom,  and  a  monastery  close  by  the 
walls  of  the  city,  full  of  monks  from  the  Peninsula,  while 
among  the  inmates  of  St.  Saba's  Convent  was  another 
Iberian.  Phokas  gives  no  explanation  of  this  remarkable 
prominence  of  Spanish  devotees  in  the  Holy  Land  during 
these  last  days  of  the  Latin  Kingdom ;  but  at  Mount 
Carmel,  we  may  remember,  he  also  mentions  a  hermit 
from  Calabria   in    South    Italv ;  and   recollecting   that   our 


1  Chs.      xix.,     xx.     of    Johannes 
Phokas. 

2  Phokas    (ch.     xxvii.)    seems    to 


attribute  the  original  building  of 
the  latter  to  Manuel ;  but  this  would 
be  almost  incredible  carelessness. 


in.]  PHOKAS  ;     THE    ANONYMOUS    PILGRIMS  203 

writer  was  a  Byzantine,  we  may  see  from  this  one  narra- 
tive how  great  a  meeting-place  for  Christians  of  distant  lands 
was  the  Syria  of  the  Latin  domination. 

Among  the  pilgrim-travellers  of  the  Crusading  age,  we  may 
also  reckon  several  Anonymous   writers  who  describe   the 
visits  they  paid  to  Syria  before  the  triumph  of  Saladin  and 
the  misbelievers.     The  exact  date  of  most  of  their  journeys  is 
uncertain  ;  but  the  First  of  the  Innominati,  who  is  also  the 
earliest,  cannot   well   be   put   later   than    1098,1    and   thus 
slightly    precedes    the    conquest     of     Jerusalem     by     the 
Europeans    under    Godfrey    of   Bouillon.      Next,    perhaps, 
we  have  the  Fourth  of  the  group  (in  the  ordinary  number- 
ing),  who   may   be   fixed    to   some   point   within    the   first 
quarter   of   the    twelfth    century.     Neither   of   these   offers 
any  features  of  marked  interest, — except  that  the  last-named 
calculates  his   distances   in   German  miles,  and  so  appears 
to  belong  to   a   nationality   which,  as   John    of   Wiirzburg 
bitterly    remarks,    was    more    prominent    in    the    first    days 
of  the  Latin  Kingdom  than  in  the  later  times  of  Levantine 
history.     The  Third  place  probably  belongs  to  the  Seventh 
of   this  category,  whom  some  would  place  about  the  close 
of   the   reign   of  Manuel  Comnenus    (1180),  but  who  need 
not  be  later   than    the   middle   of   the   century   (1140-50). 
This   tract  is  of  even  less  value  than  the  preceding ;    but 
the  next   of  the    series,  commonly   classified  as  the  Sixth, 
and  otherwise  known  as   the   compilation   of   the   Pseudo- 
Baeda,   occupies   a   much    higher    place.     The    author   was 
an  Englishman;    his   manual    was   compiled  between  1150 
and  1170,  as  far  as  can  be  judged  ;    and  while   he   shows 
certain    resemblances    with    Fetellus,  John    of    Wiirzburg, 
and   Daniel  of  Kiev,  his  notes  are  probably  based,  for  the 

'   See  p.  138  of  this  vol. 


204  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Cl!- 

most  part,  on  the  Old  Compendium,  which  all  the  later 
pilgrims  tend  to  reproduce  with  increasing  servility.  His 
English  speech  appears  from  his  play  on  the  words  '  Desert 
of  Sin '  and  his  explanation  of  the  same,  on  the  lucus  a 
non  lucendo  principle,  as  the 'holy  waste.'  Besides  a  short 
account  of  the  chief  places  of  the  Holy  Land,  he  gives 
us  many  of  the  stations  of  the  route  of  the  Israelites  from 
Egypt  to  Canaan.  To  him,  as  to  so  many  others  of  his  religion, 
Hebron  represented  a  prophetic  revelation  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  for  here  Abraham  '  saw  Three  and  worshipped 
One.'  Montreal  Castle,  the  work  of  that  '  brave  lion 
Baldwin ' ;  Tyre,  recently  taken  by  the  Crusaders,  with 
the  help  of  the  Venetian  Navy ;  Damascus  built  by  Eliezer, 
the  steward  of  Abraham ;  the  streams  of  Jor  and  Dan 
uniting  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  of  Gilboa  ;  the  '  Hebrew  ' 
names  of  GJwr  or  Avalon  for  the  Jordan  Valley;  Jerusalem 
in  the  middle  of  the  world  ;  the  Church  on  the  site  of  the 
Temple,  said  to  have  been  erected  by  the  Saracen  Admiral l 
Nymphis ;  these  are  the  chief  memoranda  of  this  narrative, 
and  in  almost  all  of  them  we  are  reminded  of  the  Teutonic 
descriptions  of  John  and  Theoderich.  But  the  account  here 
given  of  the  successive  translations  of  the  head  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist  to  Alexandria,  Constantinople,  Poitou,  and 
Maurienne  is  probably  extracted  from  Gregory  of  Tours ; 
and  the  other  curiosities  of  this  note-book  are  mostly  due 
to  the  common  source  of  so  much  error  and  absurdity, 
(alike  in  the  Wurzburg  travellers  and  in  the  Ianominati), 
that  Old  Compendium,  which  perhaps  appeared  in  the  third 

1  In  the  text  'a   certain   Amrair-  The  title  of  Ammiraldus  is,  perhaps,  a 

aldus     Nymphis,'     for     which     last  corruption  of  the   Arabic  'Amir-al- 

Memphis  has  been  conjectured  with.-  '    Muinenin,'  more  usually  appearing  in 

out    much  improving  the  sense,  but  .    Christian  histories   under   the    form 

at  any  rate  making  this  passage  agree  |    '  Miramamolin. ' 
more  nearlv  with  John  of  Wiirzbure. 


III.]  THE    ANONYMOUS    PILGRIMS  205 

decade  of  the  twelfth  century,  soon  after  the  Concordat  of 
Worms  (c.  A.D.  1128). 

The  Fifth  place  in  order  of  date  (c.  1170)  is  given  by 
some 1  to  the  (so-called)  '  Second '  Anonymous,  who  bears 
a  marked  similarity  to  the  Bordeaux  Pilgrim,  with  some 
likenesses  to  Saewulf  and  Theoderich.  There  is  no  decisive 
ground,  however,  for  placing  him  before  the  era  of  1187, 
and  he  has  been  brought  down  to  the  very  end  of  the 
twelfth  century  by  other  scholars. 

Sixth  in  order  comes  an  Anonymous  tract  traditionally 
numbered  as  Third,  and  perhaps  belonging,  like  the  former, 
to  about  1170-75.  It  ranks  next  to  the  Pseudo-Baeda  in 
value,  and  is  the  most  picturesque  and  interesting  of  the 
guide-books  of  the  Innominati.  Starting  from  Brindisi,  the 
author  brings  us  to  the  city  of  '  Clarence '  in  the  '  Isle  of 
Eomania,'  in  which  land  he  found  a  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  towns,  good  wine,  and  sweet  air.  The  rich  islands  of 
Candia  and  Cyprus  are  next  described,  and  especial  praise  is 
given  to  Baffo,  its  aromatics  and  jewels,  clever  workmen  and 
pious  embroiderers.  Two  other  Cyprian  towns,  Limasol  and 
Famagusta,  are  also  commemorated  ;  the  first  for  its  place  in 
the  annals  of  Chivalry,  being  the  capital  of  both  the  great 
orders  of  the  Temple  and  the  Hospital ;  the  second  for 
the  refuge  it  afforded  to  the  Community  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
often  confused  with  the  Hospital,  but  in  reality  quite  dis- 
tinct. Nothing  else  is  known  of  the  Hospitallers  of  Cyprus 
or  of  the  miracles  worked  by  St.  Patrick  in  that  Island  ;  on 
the  other  hand,  the  writer's  notice  of  the  frequented  sea- 
passage  from  the  ports  of  Cyprus  to  those  of  Little  Armenia 
(or  Cilicia)  is  amply  confirmed  by  other  sources,  and  prevent-; 
us  from  dating  his  compilation  too  early  in  the  twelft'i 
century.  From  his  constant  and  emphatic  reference  t  > 
1   E.g.  Roliricbtj  Bibliotheca  Gengraphica  Palaestinae, 


206  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

the  wines,  aromatics,  fair  women,  and  other  natural  or  arti- 
ficial riches  of  the  Levant,  we  may  suppose  this  pilgrim 
was  not  so  stern  an  ascetic  as  some  others  of  his  class. 

The  traditional  Eighth  and  Ninth  of  this  series  come 
Seventh  and  Eighth  in  time  ;  only  one,  according  to  this 
arrangement,  is  of  later  date,  the  so-called  Fifth  ;  and 
both  belong  to  the  last  years  of  Latin  ascendency  (c.  1175- 
85).  The  notes  of  the  first-named  contain  memorial  and 
dedicatory  verses,  after  the  manner  of  John  of  Wiirzburg, 
and  place  the  Mountain  of  Little  Hermon  near  Tabor, 
without  the  usual  pilgrim-duplicate  of  the  '  Hill  of  Re- 
joicing,' in  the  environs  of  Jerusalem. 

The  Fifth  and  last  of  these  Anonymous  travellers  has  left 
a  narrative  in  two  parts,  both  of  which  seem  to  have  been 
written  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  in  1187,  but  describe 
a  journey  made  just  before  that  date.  Like  Abbot  Daniel 
and  Bishop  Willi  bald,  the  author  refers,  though  in  a  guarded 
manner,  to  the  extraordinary  tale  of  the  well  into  which 
dropped  the  Star  of  Bethlehem ;  like  Saewulf  and  others, 
he  alludes  to  the  circle  in  the  Holy  Sepulchre  which  the 
Lord  declared  to  be  the  middle  of  the  world.  He  also 
gives  special  attention  to  the  subject  of  the  European 
Settlements  in  Syria,  such  as  those  of  the  Genoese,  Pisans, 
and  Venetians,  maritime  allies  of  the  Frank  land-forces, 
cunning  traders,  and  invincible  at  sea,  who  for  their  services 
had  been  freed  from  all  tribute  and  toll,  and  lived  under 
their  own  jurisdiction.  Jealous  and  quarrelsome  among  them- 
selves, they  did  much  to  mar  the  glory  and  happiness  which 
their  courage,  skill,  and  wealth  deserved.  The  chief  orders 
of  knighthood  and  the  ecclesiastical  divisions  of  the  Latin 
Kingdom  are  also  noticed,  and  we  are  told  (by  the  way) 
that  the  Greek  Bishop  of  Sinai  was  obedient  to  the  Roman 
Patriarch  at  Jerusalem.    Among  other  notable  things  recorded 


HI]  MINOR    PILGRIM    NOTICES  207 

are  the  four  annual  changes  of  colour  in  the  water  of  Jacob's 
well — from  clear  to  muddy,  from  muddy  to  red,  and  from  red 
to  green  ;  the  fountain  of  Siloam  flowing  only  three  days  a 
week  ;  the  apples  of  Adam  plainly  showing  the  marks  of  his 
teeth ;  the  cotton  which  in  Syria  could  be  sown  like  wheat ; 
and  the  balsam  trees  which  would  only  give  fruit  to  Chris- 
tians. Like  James  de  Vitry,  the  writer  confuses  Haifa  and 
Porphyrium ;  like  others,  he  disputes  the  vain  story  of 
rainless  Gilboa ;  and  like  all  mediaeval  Latins,  he  finds  in 
'  Mohammed '  and  '  Mohammedanism  ' x  terms  clearly  ex- 
pressive of  idolatry,  and  useful  as  designations  for  the  calves 
of  Bethel. 

Last  of  all,  there  are  various  scattered  and  mostly  insignifi- 
cant writings  of  the  twelfth  century,  which  either  refer  to  the 
Syrian  travels  of  their  authors,  or  give  some  account  of 
the  country  and  its  Topography  from  the  experiences  of 
other  men,  but  which  are  of  too  slight  a  character  for 
separate  treatment,  As  examples  of  the  former  class,  we 
may  briefly  refer  to  the  works  of  Theotonius,  prior  of  the 
Convent  of  the  Holy  Cross  at  Coimbra  in  Portugal,  who 
twice  visited  Palestine  about  1112-13;  of  Belardus  of 
Esculo,  a  pilgrim  of  a  few  years  later  (c.  1118-20)  ;'2  and 
of  Burkhard  or  Gerard  of  Strassburg,  whose  itinerary  is 
of  1170-75.  To  the  latter  subdivision  (of  stay-at-home 
writers)  belong  Dermot  or  Dermatitis,  an  Irishman,  who 
professed  to  have  made  a  pilgrimage  about  1115,  but  whose 
Exhortation  is  probably  a  rhetorical  exercise ;  Achardus  of 
Arroasia,  who  wrote  on  the  Temple  of  Solomon  about  1120  ; 

1  'Machometh'  and  'Machomeria.'  I  description  is  perhaps  connected  with 

2  The  important  itinerary  of  i  the  Copenhagen  copy  of  the  famous 
Nicholas  Saemundarson,  Abbot  of  ;  Plan  of  Jerusalem  or  Situs 
the  Benedictine  House  of  Thing-  ]  Hierusalem),  is  treated  elsewhere, 
eyrar  in  Iceland  (whose  journey  and  pp.  217  note,  430  note. 


208  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

Hugo  of  St.  Victor,  whose  tract  of  1135  on  the  Holy  Places 
is  an  excerpt  from  Baeda ;  Peter,  a  deacon  of  Monte 
Cassino,  author  of  a  similar  pamphlet  in  or  about  1137; 
and  Gerard  of  Nazareth,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Laodicea,  the 
biographer  of  various  saints  resident  in  the  Holy  Land 
(c.  1160).1  To  these  we  may  add  the  name  of  another 
Scandinavian  devotee,  Gissur  Hallson,  whose  account  of  a 
visit  to  Jerusalem  in  1150-52  has  disappeared,  and  who 
must  therefore  be  taken  as  typical  of  a  third  class,  the 
pilgrims  who  travelled  but  have  left  no  record. 

After  the  fall  of  the  Holy  City  into  Saladin's  hands 
the  relations  of  the  Christian  world  with  Syria  are  com- 
pletely changed,  and  Christian  travel  in  the  Levant  begins 
to  follow  new  lines.  We  have  already  noticed  the  begin- 
nings of  this  tendency :  even  in  the  earlier  twelfth  century 
pilgrimage  has  ceased  to  attract  the  really  enterprising 
spirits,  who  increasingly  find  their  natural  calling  in  the 
journeys  of  an  expanding  commerce,  and  leave  the  Via  Sacra 
to  a  humbler  class  of  wayfarer.  Here  we  need  only  repeat 
that  the  last  seventy  years  of  the  Crusading  Age  supply  us 
with  nothing  of  special  interest  in  pilgrim-travel.  In  fact, 
there  is  only  one  first-hand  description  of  the  Lloly  Places 
in  this  time  from  a  Latin  source  which  is  worthy  of  the 
name,  or  anything  more  than  a  series  of  allusions,  travellers' 
tales,  or  citations  from  older  writers.  This  is  the  old 
French  pamphlet  known  as  the  City  of  Jerusalem,  of  about 
1220.  By  the  side  of  this,  but  much  inferior  to  it,  are 
certain  passages  in  the  works  of  historians  and  chroniclers, 
such  as  Ernoul  and  James  de  Vitry,  which  may  be  taken 
as  representative  of  a  large  body  of  Crusading  literature 
referring  to  the  geography  of  the  Levant.  While,  in  con- 
1  As  well  as  Othmar,  another  writer  on  the  Holv  Places,  c.  ll(v>, 


ItL]  THE    CITY    OF    JERUSALEM  209 

elusion,  there  are  certain  minor  notices  with  which  we  may 
continue  and  end  in  this  period  the  list  that  has  been 
sketched  out  for  the  preceding  epochs.  Among  these 
slender  records  the  City  of  Jerusalem  naturally  comes 
first. 

This  tract,  though  it  professes  to  describe  the  condition 
of  Jerusalem  just  before  Saladin's  reconquest,  is  undoubtedly 
of  the  thirteenth  century ;  in  some  manuscripts  it  is  accom- 
panied by  a  second  part,  dealing  with  the  other  Holy  Places 
of  Syria.  Generally  speaking,  the  notes  here  given  us 
resemble  those  of  John  of  Wiirzburg  and  of  Theoderich  ; 
they  are  somewhat  less  detailed,  but  they  embrace  a  larger 
number  of  subjects.  In  the  second  part,  the  mention  of 
Chateau  Pelerin  shows  that  the  date  of  writing  must  have 
been  subsequent  to  1218,  when  this  Castle  was  erected  by 
the  Templars.  Again,  the  Castle  of  St.  Margaret,  on  Mount 
Carmel,  is  supposed  to  date  only  from  1209.  Once  more, 
the  writer  refers  to  St.  Chariton  as  having  been  dead  eight 
hundred  years,  and  he  died  in  410.  Thus  the  date  of  com- 
position cannot  well  be  earlier  than  about  1220.  At  the 
very  opening  we  meet  the  startling  statement  that  Jerusalem 
was  no  longer  in  the  same  place  where  it  stood  when  Christ 
was  on  Earth ;  then  it  was  on  Mount  Sion  ;  but  in  the 
author's  time  only  a  few  monks  inhabited  that  hill,  guarding 
the  traditional  place  of  the  Last  Supper.  Next,  we  hear  of 
the  four  Master  Gates  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre ;  of  the  Church 
of  St.  James  of  Galicia  ;  of  a  street  devoted  to  the  cooking 
of  food  for  the  pilgrims  (and  thence  called  Mal-quisinat/  of 
the  street  of  the  Germans,  noticed  by  John  of  Wiirzburg ; 
and  of  the  Exchange  or  Market  of  the  Syrians  and  Latins. 
Besides  these,  we  have  the  Pool  of  the  Germans,  perhaps 
connected  with  the  establishment  of  the  Teutonic  Order, 
and  the  Abbey  of  the  Georgians,  founded  by  monks  from 

o 


210  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  LOh. 

that  country  of  Avegia  or  Amazonia  which  mediaeval  and 
classical  legend  placed  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Caspian. 

The  second  part  of  this  tract  describes  the  ordinary 
route  from  Acre,  Haifa,  and  Caesarea  to  Jaffa  and  Jeru- 
salem ;  from  Jerusalem  to  the  Jordan ;  and  from  the  Holy 
City  to  Samaria  and  Galilee— altogether  giving  a  pretty 
complete  list  of  the  journeys  usually  performed  by  Syrian 
devotees,  and  furnishing  a  number  of  distance-reckonings 
which  on  the  whole  are  extraordinarily  accurate. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  miraculous  and  legendary  element 
is  very  strong  here,  and  the  mediaeval  readings  of  Bible 
history  appear  in  their  most  complete  distortions.  As 
examples  of  this  we  have  the  Chapel  of  St.  Cornelius,  '  who 
was,  after  my  Lord1  St.  Peter,  Archbishop  of  Caesarea'; 
the  cloak  of  St.  James  of  Galicia ;  the  print  of  the  ten 
fingers  of  Christ  upon  the  stone ;  and  the  miraculous  virtues 
of  the  Tomb  of  St.  Catherine,  which  many  wild  beasts  on 
the  mountains  lived  by  licking.  A  peculiar  story  occurs 
about  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  '  On  this  sweet  water  lake  of 
Jordan,  Christ  ate  with  His  Apostles  after  His  resurrec- 
tion ;  but  He  only  ate  the  backs  of  the  fish,  which  were  as 
large  as  the  roaches  of  the  sweet  waters  of  France,  and  all 
the  rest  He  threw  back  into  the  water,  when  the  fish  at 
once  moved  again  and  swam  away.'  As  to  Tiberias,  one  of 
the  stories  from  the  Arabic  Gospel  of  the  Infancy  re-appears 
in  this  tract ;  for  here  was  the  torch  which  the  Jews  threw 
at  the  Messiah  when  He  showed  them  how  to  dye.  In 
Tortosa  we  have  a  mention  of  a  very  ancient  Church  of  the 
Theotokos,  which  the  author  supposes  to  have  been  the 
oldest  in  the  world  to  receive  this  dedication  ;  and,  like  James 

1  'Moiiseigneur.5 


in.]  the  'city  of  Jerusalem':  ernoul         211 

de   Vitry,    he   ascribes   the   building   of   the   edifice   to   St. 
Peter.1 

In  the  seventh,  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  chapters  of 
Ernoul's  chronicle  we  have  a  description  of  various  parts 
of  Palestine  outside  Jerusalem.  This  chronicle  is  of  the 
year  1231  ;  it  abounds  in  mistakes,  and  is  of  very  small 
value.  Beginning  with  a  notice  of  the  Jordan,  '  where  it 
rises,  how  it  goes,  and  where  it  rests,'  the  troubadour-annalist 
repeats  the  old  rabbinical  stories  of  the  fountains  of  Jor  and 
Dan  (or  Dain),  of  the  Ark  of  Noah  and  its  building  at 
Arka  on  Mount  Lebanon,  and  of  the  mountain  of  salt  on 
the  shore  of  the  Asphaltic  Lake.  The  miracle  of  Cana  is 
transferred  to  Tiberias,  and  the  incident  is  distorted  into  the 
'  Wedding  of  Archedeclin '  or  Architriclin, — thus  outdoing 
Saewulf  and  the  City  of  Jerusalem.  For  here  Architriclinus, 
the  'Eulerof  the  Feast,'  appears  as  the  bridegroom,  and  the 
narrative  of  St.  John  is  still  more  completely  corrupted 
than  we  find  it  in  the  Worcester  Pilgrim.  In  mentioning 
the  town  of  '  Crac '  or  Kerak,  and  its  lordship  to  the  east 
of  the  Jordan,  Ernoul  refers  to  the  Monastery  of  St.  Catherine 
on  Mount  Sinai,  within  the  boundaries  of  the  same  lordship, 
an  outpost  of  Christendom,  on  the  borders  of  Islam,  where 
thirteen  monks  lived  in  privation  'like  Moses.'  Near  this 
was  the  Eed  Sea,  through  the  midst  of  which  ran  the  Eiver 
of  Paradise  which  Scripture  called  Pison  or  the  Nile.  In 
the  neighbourhood  of  Jericho  (or  '  Jericop ')  '  walled  with 
adamant,'    Ernoul  describes    the    snake-charmino'    which   he 


1  This  still  remains  almost  perfect, 
having  been  turned  into  a  Mosque, 
but  it  was  of  course  much  later  than 
tradition  made  it,  and  both  the  fifth- 
century  Church  of  the  B.V.M.  at 
Ephesus  and  the  fourth  -  century 
Chapel    of    the    Virgin's    Tomb    at 


Jerusalem  were  older.  Many  other 
favourite  legends  of  this  neighbour- 
hood re-appear  in  the  City  of  Jeru- 
salem :  as,  e.g.  the  miraculous  picture 
at  Beyrout,  and  that  at  Sardenai, 
near  Damascus  (Xolrc  Dame  de  la 
Roche). 


212  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

may  have  witnessed  there ;  and  as  to  the  Samaritan  com- 
munity near  Sebaste,  he  has  a  remarkable  story  of  its 
origin.  It  was  colonised,  he  tells  us,  by  the  branches  of  that 
race  which  were  to  be  found  in  Alexandria  and  Damascus ; 
and  it  is  curious  to  notice  that  these  Egyptian  and  Syrian 
'churches'  lasted  to  the  seventeenth  century.  For  the 
rest,  Ernoul  is  meagre  and  unsatisfactory ;  his  identifications 
of  ancient  sites  are  generally  wrong;  and  his  estimates  of 
distance  are  reckless.  Scarcely  anywhere  does  he  show 
evidence  of  personal  travel  and  first-hand  knowledge,  and 
his  account  of  Jerusalem  is  apparently  derived  almost 
verbatim  from  an  earlier  work. 

Among  the  descriptions  of  Syria  which  are  historical, 
antiquarian,  or  ecclesiastical  rather  than  geographical,  but 
which,  being  accompanied  by  some  personal  knowledge 
of  the  country,  cannot  be  altogether  neglected,  that  of  James 
de  Vitry  is  prominent.  Having  been  appointed  Bishop 
of  Acre  in  1217,  the  year  of  a  futile  Crusade  under  King- 
Andrew  of  Hungary,  James  went  with  the  Christian  army 
to  the  siege  of  Damietta  in  1218,  took  an  active  part  in 
military  operations  both  in  Galilee  and  Egypt,  and  did  not 
finally  leave  Palestine  till  1227.  Thus  he  spent  nearly  ten 
years  of  his  life  in  the  country  whose  history  he  attempts 
to  narrate,  and  if  he  had  been  endowed  with  any  geogra- 
phical interest,  he  might  have  compiled  both  maps  and 
descriptions  far  superior  to  anything  then  in  Christian  use, 
but  his  mind  was  the  mind  of  a  rhetorician  and  a  wonder- 
seeker,  and  his  hysterical  style  and  marvellous  tales  are 
untempered  by  any  good  critical  faculty. 

His  identifications  of  places  are  little  better  than  those 
of  the  most  casual  visitor;  thus  we  find  here  the  old  mis- 
takes of  Pelusium  '  or '  Belbeis,  Beersheba  '  or '  Gibelin,  and 
so  forth  ;  '  Hierapolis  or  Maubech  '  is  his  reading  of '  Heliopolis 


III.] 


ERNOUL  ;    JAMES    DE    VITBY 


213 


or  Baalbek  ' ;  the  name  of  ^Klia,  given  to  Jerusalem,  lie  derives 
from  iElius,  a  Eoman  quaestor,  who  rebuilt  it  after  the 
destruction  by  Titus ;  Petra  he  places  near  Eabbath  Amnion 
'  where  Uriah  was  slain.'  Whenever  the  Saracens  got  posses- 
sion of  the  Holy  City  they  set  up  the  image  of  '  Machomet '  in 
the  Temple  ;  the  historian  adds  a  short  and  less  mythical 
account  of  the  three  great  Orders  of  Chivalry  closely  con- 
nected with  the  Holy  Sites.1 

As  to  the  maritime  intercourse  between  Western  Europe 
and  the  Levant,  De  Vitry  is  emphatic  and  suggestive. 
The  skill  of  the  Italian  merchants,  as  seamen,  might  have 
been  of  great  service  to  the  Crusaders,  if  they  had  not  been 
more  inclined  to  fight  with  one  another  than  with  the 
infidels,  and  if  they  had  not  shared  to  the  full  the  degenera- 
tion which  had  overtaken  the  Latins  in  Syria  and  destroyed 
the  efficiency  of  the  Temple  and  the  Hospital.  Further  on, 
among  his  notice  of  various  sects,  De  Vitry  gives  us  a  little 
incidental  geography,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Jacobites  of  Nubia, 
^Ethiopia,  and  other  countries  '  as  far  as  India ' ;  of  the  Nes- 
torians,  living  under  that  most  puissant  lord,  Prester  John ; 
of  the  Georgians,  among  whom  dwelt  the  Amazons ;  of  the 
Mozarabic  Christians  of  Africa  and  Spain ;  of  the  Assassins 
who  were  the  chief  sect  of  the  Essenes ;  and  of  the  Sadducean 
Jews  living  near  the  Caspian  Mountains  and  the  wall  of 
Alexander,  who  in  the  time  of  Antichrist  were  to  return 
to  Palestine.  Lastly,  in  his  Topography  of  Syria,  De  Vitry 
includes  a  province  between  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates, 


1  Of  these  the  Hospitallers  are 
said  by  De  Vitry  to  have  arisen  from 
the  purely  peaceful  enterprise  of 
some  Lombards,  especially  of  Amalfi, 
who  brought  merchandise  to  Syria, 
and  by  presents  induced  the  lord  of 
Egypt   to    let   them    build   a   Latin 


Church  near  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
The  St.  John  of  the  Hospital  was, 
according  to  De  Vitry,  [not  St.  John 
the  Baptist  but]  St.  John  the  Chari- 
table, of  Cyprus,  afterwards  Patriarch 
of  Alexandria  ;  of.  History  of  Jeru- 
salem (abbreviated),  ch.  lxiv. 


214  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Arabian  Desert,  while 
among  the  three  provinces  that  make  up  Palestine  he 
reckons  Philistia  and  its  capital  at  Caesarea  Philippi.1 

There  only  remain  certain  scattered  contributions  to 
what  may  be  called  the  Mediaeval  Library  of  Syrian 
geography,  and  of  these  only  a  few  record  actual  travel ; 
the  rest  are  nothing  more  than  declamations,  allegories, 
pious  appeals,  or  topographical  notes  of  a  second-hand 
order.  The  former  class  feebly  maintains  an  old  tradition 
in  the  persons  and  writings  of  Antony  of  Novgorod 
(c.  1200),  Wilbrand  of  Oldenburg  (c.  1212),  Thietmar  or 
Thetmar  (c.  1217),  and  Sabbas  of  Servia  (c.  1225-1237). 

Among  these  the  '  great  sinner '  Antony,  a  poor  counter- 
part of  Abbot  Daniel,  represents  the  other  main  centre  of 
Russian  life,  the  northern  and  commercial  capital  in  the 
South  Baltic  basin,  of  which  he  was  archbishop  or  metro- 
politan. He  passed  through  Constantinople  on  the  eve 
of  the  Latin  Conquest,  and  perhaps  visited  Palestine  under 
the  restored  Moslem  rule,  shortly  after  the  death  of  Saladin  ; 
but  among  the  details  of  his  journey  there  are  scarcely 
any  of  general  interest,  and  he  has  only  recorded  little  more 
than  his  impressions  of  the  sacred  places  of  Tsargrad,  Yet, 
in  the  allusions  he  occasionally  makes  to  the  religious  inter- 
course between  the  Byzantine  world  and  his  own  people,  and 
to  the  condition  of  Byzantium  itself  in  the  last  days  of  the 
Older  Eastern  Empire,  he  establishes  his  claim  to  a  position 
of  higher  value  than  the  average  pilgrim  wayfarer  of  this  age. 
Thus,  in  the  gold  paten  which  the  Princess  Olga  had  caused 
to  be  made  for  the  divine  Liturgy  in  the  Church  of  the 
Eternal  Wisdom ;  in  the  '  model '  eikon  of  the  Slav  saints, 
Boris  and  Gleb ;  and  in  the  relics  of  the  Russian  priest  Leon, 
1  Cf.  History  of  Jerusalem,  chs.  lxxv.-lxxx.,  xevi, 


HI.]  JAMES    DE    VITRY  ;    ANTONY    OF    NOVGOROD       215 

who  had  thrice  made  the  journey  to  Jerusalem  on  foot, 
and  of  the  Lady  Xenia,  the  daughter  of  Bracislav — we  have 
suggestions  of  a  constant  but  little-known  movement  from 
North-Eastern  Europe  to  Constantinople  and  Palestine.  And 
the  same  suggestion  lies  in  Antony's  mention  of  the  convent 
of  Match ukov  ;  of  the  Eussian  '  embolon '  among  the  treasures 
of  the  Imperial  City;  and  of  the  embassy  under  Tverdiatina 
Ostromiritza,  Nedan,  Domagir,  Dmitri,  and  Negvar  from 
Roman,  Grand  Prince  of  Vladimir,  to  the  Emperor  Alexius 
III.  These  envoys  were  present  at  a  church  council  over 
which  the  Emperor x  presided  ;  and  this  council  was  pro- 
bably that  held  in  the  May  of  1199,  at  which  the  patriarch 
John  Kamateros  also  assisted.  It  is  to  Antony's  descrip- 
tions of  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia  and  of  the  imperial  '  palace 
of  gold '  that  most  of  his  readers  would  now  turn  with 
especial  interest ;  but  they  would  be  disappointed  if  they 
hoped  to  find  here  anything  more  than  catalogues  of  relics, 
(such  as  the  shield  of  Constantino  and  the  right  hand  of  John 
Baptist),  descriptions  of  '  holy  and  appalling '  miracles,  or 
details  of  religious  services,  such  as  that  of  Matins  in  the 
Patriarchal  Church. 

With  the  journey  of  the  Archbishop  of  Xovgorod  that 
of  another  metropolitan  naturally  connects  itself.  In  1225- 
1230  Sabbas  of  Servia,  afterwards  one  of  the  saints  of  the 
Eastern  Church,  made  his  way  to  Palestine,  and  compiled  an 
account  of  his  visit  in  the  Serbian  dialect  of  Slavonic ;  but 
no  proper  record  has  survived  of  the  alleged  travels  of  St. 
Euphrosyna,  Princess  of  Polotsk,  to  the  same  country,  at 
the  end  of  the  twelfth  century ;  and  these  have  accordingly 
been  dismissed,  without  sufficient  cause,  as  purely  mythical. 
The  itineraries  of  the  Western  pilgrims,  Wilbrand  of  Olden- 
burg   and    Thietmar,    are    almost    entirely    repetitions    of 

1  Angelas  Conmenus,  119.1-1203, 


216  PILGRIM    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

material  we  have  already  had  to  notice,  especially  from  John 
of  Wiirzburg  and  the  Old  Compendium;  Wilbrand,  how- 
ever, has  rather  more  to  tell  us  about  Asia  Minor  than  the 
generality  of  palmers.  Last  among  the  first-hand  descrip- 
tions of  Palestine  within  this  period,  albeit  of  very  doubtful 
character,  is  the  supposed  book  of  James  Pantaleon,  Patriarch 
of  Jerusalem,  commonly  assigned  to  one  of  the  last  two 
decades  of  the  Crusading  age  (1250-1270). 

The  latter  class  of  these  writings,  those  of  an  entirely 
derivative  and  untravelled  authorship,  include  a  tract  by 
Peter  of  Blois  (about  1190),  on  the  Length  and  Breadth  of 
Palestine,  mostly  composed  of  extracts  from  Jerome  ;  the  Tri- 
partite Relation  of  the  monk  Haymar  (about  1199),  on  the 
manners'  and  resources x  of  the  Hagarenes  or  Saracens, 
addressed  to  Innocent  III, ;  another  work  of  the  same 
ecclesiastic,  on  the  condition2  of  the  Holy  Land  about  the 
same  date ;  a  short  anonymous  description  of  Jerusalem ; 
and  a  fragment  of  an  Itinerary  3  from  the  last  years  of  the 
twelfth  century.  Besides  these,  Radulphus  Niger,  as  he 
tells  us  himself  in  his  chronicle  (c.  1200),  composed  a  short 
account  of  the  three  principal  pilgrim-routes  to  Jerusalem ; 
Gervase  of  Tilbury,  in  his  Otia  Imperialia,  of  about  1211, 
makes  frequent  reference  to  the  geography  of  the  Levant; 
the  same  service  is  performed  by  Eustathius,4  who  may  be 
reckoned  among  the  latest  and  least  of  Greek  geographers,  in 
his  Parekbolai  of  nearly  the  same  date  (c.  1212) ;  while  Roger 
of  Wendover  and  Matthew  Paris  in  their  Mores  Historiarum 
(1236)  and  Chronica  Major  a  (1250),  conclude  the  list  of 
mediaeval  annalists  in  this  period  who  give  us  an  allusive 

1  Vires.  4  Of.      Miiller,     Geographi    Grarci 

2  Status.  I    Minores,  ii.  373-391, 
:1  In  Libr.  at  Line.  Coll.  Oxford. 


III. 


WILBRAND  OF  OLDENBURG  ;    M.   PARIS,  ETC.        217 


treatment  of  Syrian  matters  and  Syrian  intercourse  with  the 
West.  But  Matthew  Paris  devoted  more  special  attention 
to  this  subject ;  for  he  also  composed  a  map  of  Palestine  and 
a  variety  of  notes  about  Palestine  travel  and  topography, 
elsewhere  noticed  at  length,  and  apparently  based  in  part 
upon  a  little  guide-book  of  about  1231,  Les  PHerinages  pour 
alter  en  Jerusalem.  It  is  more  questionable  whether 
Matthew's  wrork  was  in  any  way  related  to  other  still 
more  insignificant  productions  of  this  time,  such  as  Philippe 
Mousquet's  rhymed  description  of  the  Holy  Land  (c.  a.i> 
1241),  or  the  parallel  sketch  of  Martinus  Polonus  (c.  1240- 
1245V 


1  Other  pilgrimages  of  the  Scandi- 
navians to  the  Holy  Land  and  in  a 
less  degree  to  Rome  and  Compostella, 
oiler  man}r  points  of  geographical 
interest.  For  want  of  space  we  can 
only  note  here  the  journeys,  e.g.  (1) 
of  Alfvin  Haraldson,  grandson  of 
Cnut  the  Great,  e.  a.d.  1060  ;  (2)  of 
Svein  Nordbaggi.  Bishop  of  Rbskilde, 
c.  1086  ;  (3)  of  Lagman  Gudrodson, 
King  of  Man  and  the  Isles,  c.  1095  ; 
(4)  of  Eric  the  Good,  King  of  Den- 
mark. 1102-3;  (5)  of  Svein  and 
Eskill,  brothers  of  Asker,  first  Arch- 
bishop of  Lund.  c.  1150-3:  (6)  of 
Eskill  Kristiernson.  second  Archbishop 
of  Lund,  c.  1164-8  ;  (7)  of  Andres 
Skialdabandr  from  Norway,  c.  1229- 
1230.  All  the  above  were  peaceful 
attempts,  some  unsuccessful,  to  visit 
Jerusalem,  with  or  without  a  journey 
to  Rome.  Armed  expeditions  to 
Palestine  from  Scandinavia  are  in- 
stanced in  the  fleets  of  (1)  Wimmer 


or  Guinemer  of  Boulogne  and  his 
Danes  and  Frisians,  1096  ;  (2)  the 
Northmen  of  Man  and  the  South 
Isles,  11S9-91  ;  (3)  the  Danes  and 
Frisians  who  visit  Compostella  and 
ravage  Moslem  Spain,  1189-91  ;  (4) 
the  Norwegian  Crusaders,  Hreidar, 
Ulf  Laufnaes,  etc.,  1190.  The  pil- 
grimage of  Abbot  Nicholas  of  Thing- 
eyrar,  1151-4,  is  the  best  example  of 
the  Norse  '  Rome  route.'  From  the 
Eyder  he  traces  an  itinerary  by 
PaderboTn  and  Mainz  to  Basel,  Vevey, 
Mount  St.  Bernard,  Aosta.  Pavia,  and 
so,  by  Rome,  to  Bari  and  Monopoli. 
Of.  Scriptores  Rerum  Danic,  i.  379; 
iii.  338  ;  Scriptores  Rerum  Germanic 
xvii.  794-6  ;  Dozy,  Recherclies,  ii.  295. 
329-340';  Riant,  Expeditions  .  .  . 
des  Scand  in  airs  en  Terre  Sainte  pp. 
62-7.  69-86,  125-6.  129,  131-9,  144- 
215,  221,  225,  226-9,  230-9,  272-7. 
290-305,  312-338.  342-3.  348-353. 
354,  365. 


(     218     ) 


CHAPTER  IV 

BENJAMIN  OF  TUDELA  AND  OTHER  JEWISH  TRAVELLERS 

A  new  chapter  of  mediaeval  travel  begins  with  Rabbi 
Benjamin  of  Tudela  (c.  1159-1173).  His  Records  are  the 
earliest  important  contributions  of  the  Hebrew  race  to 
geography  ;  they  also  mark  a  distinct  advance  in  the  move- 
ment from  west  to  east,  whose  outlook  now  began  to  reach 
beyond  the  Euphrates  to  Central  and  Further  Asia.  Before 
the  time  of  Benjamin  the  Jews  had  often  made  extensive 
journeys,  being  for  various  reasons  especially  useful  as 
envoys,  negotiators,  commercial  travellers,  and  spies  ;  but 
their  geography,  written  and  traditional,  seems  to  have  re- 
mained at  the  rudimentary  stage  of  the  Old  Testament,  until 
in  the  twelfth  century  their  learned  men  first  condescended 
to  study  earth-knowledge  as  a  science,  or  at  least  as  a  body 
of  fact.  At  first  this  new  development  was  chiefly  notice- 
able in  the  more  careful  and  systematic  visitation  and  de- 
scription of  the  old  home-lands  of  the  Hebrew  people,  and 
above  all  of  Syria  itself;  and  here,  as  elsewhere,  it  was 
apparently  through  the  Crusading  movement  that  the 
change  was  brought  about.  For  Jews  as  well  as  Christians 
availed  themselves  of  the  fresh  opportunities  of  travel  to  the 
Holy  Places  of  both  religions ;  and  they  also  attempted  to 
discover  and  make  known  to  their  brethren  in  Europe,  more 


Ch.  IV. 1    BENJAMIN'S  PRECURSORS;  JACOB  BEN  SHEARA  219 

perfectly  than  before,  the  condition  of  the  congregations  of 
the  Levant,  and  the  position  and  state  of  the  sepulchres  and 
memorials  of  the  great  Hebrews  of  former  days. 

Long  before  the  twelfth  century,  however,  a  certain 
movement  to  and  fro  between  distant  Hebrew  communities 
is  faintly  shown  by  scanty  records,  and  it  will  be  convenient 
in  this  place  to  treat  these  indications  as  introductory  to 
the  central  figure  (and  narrative)  of  Eabbi  Benjamin,  con- 
cluding this  chapter  with  a  short  account  of  Petachia  of 
Eatisbon  and  the  other  Israelites  who  contributed  in  theory 
or  practice  to  the  progress  of  geography  before  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century. 

The  Talmud  of  Palestine  or  of  Jerusalem,  which  in  its 
present  form  is  of  the  later  fourth  century,  contains  some 
topographical  allusions,  not  only  to  regions  within  the 
borders  of  Syria,  but  also  to  Egypt,  Mesopotamia,  and 
Arabia.  The  sixth  century  Babylonian  Talmud  has  a  more 
extended  geographical  outlook ;  notices  of  Media,  Persia  (or 
the  Land  of  the  Magi),  and  Cappadocia  are  here  to  be  found 
along  with  remarks  on  the  general  structure  of  the  world, 
the  depths  of  the  sea,  the  mountains  of  darkness,  the  seventy 
nations,  and  the  mysterious  river  Sambation.  The  journey 
of  Isaac  the  Jew,  in  the  embassy  sent  by  Charlemagne  to 
the  Caliph  Harun  al  Eashid  (801,  802),  was  a  proof  of  the 
extreme  value  of  the  Hebrews  as  intermediaries  in  mediaeval 
intercourse ;  it  was  Isaac  who  furnished  the  report  of  this 
mission  to  the  Frank  Emperor ;  and  it  would  seem  that  the 
connection  of  the  Prankish  and  Babylonian  synagogues  was 
revived  by  this  journey,  for  it  is  from  about  A.D,  850  that 
we  find  the  name  of  Prance  mentioned  in  the  decisions  of 
the  Eastern  Rabbis.  Several  other  Jewish  travels  of  the 
ninth  century  are  recorded.  Thus  about  820  Jacob  ben 
Sheara   was  sent  to   India  by  a  Moslem  prince  to  procure 


220  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA,    ETC.  [Ch. 

certain  astronomical  works ;  again,  some  fifty  years  later, 
another  Hebrew  wanderer,  whose  name  is  appropriated  by 
the  half-fabulous  relation  of  Eldacl  the  Danite,  paid  a  visit 
to  the  Jews  of  Arabia  (c.  a.d.  870).  Saadia  Gaon,  of  the  Fay  vim 
in  Egypt,  who  died  a.d.  942,  and  Nathan,  a  Babylonian,  who 
flourished  in  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century,  have  only 
left  some  cursory  geographical  references  to  distant  lands, 
such  as  India ;  but  the  son  of  Saadia,  one  Eabbi  Dosa, 
brings  us  into  connection  with  a  far  more  important  person, 
Chisdai  or  Chasdai  ben  Isaac,  the  physician  and  minister  of 
Abderrahman  III.,  Caliph  of  Cordova.  This  Hebrew  states- 
man busied  himself  in  collecting  information  upon  the  state 
of  the  Jews  in  all  the  countries  that  sent  embassies  to 
Cordova ;  and  in  pursuit  of  this  object  he  wrote  (among 
others)  to  Joseph,  Prince  of  the  Khazars,  giving  him  an 
account  of  Andalusia,  and  asking  in  return  for  some  news 
of  the  state  of  the  Jewish  Kingdom  in  South-Eastern  Europe. 
This  letter  was  brought  from  the  Guadalquivir  to  the 
Volga  by  three  Jewish  messengers,  Saul,  Joseph,  and  Jacob 
ben  Eliezer  (c.  a.d.  959).  It  was  in  answer  to  a  similar 
enquiry  about  the  Jews  of  Egypt  that  Chasdai  received 
a  similar  report  from  Eabbi  Dosa ;  and  we  may  perhaps 
consider  that  this  correspondence  was  identical  in  object 
with  the  travels  of  Benjamin  of  Tudela  and  Petachia 
of  Katisbon,  only  pursuing  a  different  method  to  arrive  at 
the  same  end.  That  end  was  clearly  the  establishment  of 
a  better  understanding  between  the  various  communities  of 
Jews  scattered  over  the  world  ;  for  this  understanding,  in 
favourable  times  and  circumstances,  might  develop  into  a 
political  unity,  and  thus  the  Jews  might  again  play  a 
prominent  part  in  history ;  even  without  this,  the  financial 
schemes  and  fraternal  charities  of  the  dispersed  children  of 
Abraham  could  not  fail  to  derive  the  greatest  benefits  from 


IV.]       ELDAD  THE  DANITE  ;    RABBI  DOSA  |    CHASDAI       221 

the  maintenance  and  development  of  such  a  correspondence 
as  this  of  Chasdai.  The  very  survival,  indeed,  of  the  Hebrew 
race  and  religion  was  obviously  in  clanger  from  a  complete 
interruption  of  the  communications  between  the  often  distant 
synagogues  ;  and  it  was  therefore  natural  that  extensive 
travel  should  be  more  in  fashion  among  the  Hebrews,  to 
whom  it  was  so  necessary,  than  among  those  Christians, 
whose  ideal  for  many  centuries  was  rather  one  of  self- 
contained  exclusiveness  within  the  sacred  limits  of  the 
Greek  or  Roman  civilisation.  Many  of  these  Jewish 
wanderings  have  passed  unrecorded ;  others  are  only  com- 
memorated by  a  bare  allusion  ;  others,  again,  survive  in 
a  fragmentary  state.  But  from  what  remains  to  us  it  is 
clear  that  throughout  the  earlier  Middle  Ages,  as  in  later 
and  more  civilised  times,  the  Jews  of  the  most  remote 
countries  had  a  system  of  correspondence,  by  letters  and 
messengers,  which  was  surprisingly  complete,  probably 
superior  to  any  telegraphy  in  use  among  the  Christians  of 
the  Dark  Ages,  and  responsible  for  a  steady  and  remarkable 
growth  of  Jewish  influence. 

In  this  connection  we  may  notice  that  the  tenth  century 
gave  a  certain  strange  and  novel  promise  of  the  restoration 
of  Israel.  The  conversion  of  the  Khazars,  or  at  least  of  the 
ruling  clans  of  this  people,  was  not  the  only  or  the  earliest 
incident  of  the  kind,  but  it  was  apparently  the  most  im- 
portant acquisition  of  mediaeval  Judaism ;  and  it  offered 
some  hopes  of  providing  a  new  and  powerful  centre  for 
the  revival  of  Jewish  nationality  and  ambitions.  Among 
older  instances  of  successful  proselytism,  the  leading  place 
perhaps  belongs  to  that  Hebrew  dynasty  and  kingdom  in 
Yemen,  or  Homeritis,  which,  from  about  B.C.  120  till  the 
first  quarter  of  the  sixth  century  after  Christ,  maintained 
the   law  of  Moses   as  a  privileged  creed  in   South-Western 


0  9O 


BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA,    ETC. 


[Oh. 


Arabia.  It  was  at  last  overthrown  by  the  Christians  of 
Abyssinia  (a.d.  522),  fifty  years  before  the  birth  of  Moham- 
med, after  a  savage  persecution  of  the  Nazarenes,  to  which 
the  Koran  apparently  alludes  ; 1  but  down  to  the  time  of 
Mohammed's  final  success  various  Hebrew  communities, 
scattered  over  other  parts  of  the  Arabian  peninsula,  main- 
tained themselves  in  considerable  strength.  With  the 
triumph  of  Islam  the  Prophet's  fatherland  was  closed  to  all 
except  his  followers;  and  obstinate  Jews  were  expelled 
without  compunction  ;  but  in  the  next  century  they  found 
a  new  home  on  the  north  of  the  Black  Sea.  About  a.d. 
740  a  certain  Bulan,  King  of  the  Khazars,  determined  to 
abandon  the  older  heathendom  of  his  people.  From  the 
sixth  century  this  nation,  usually  considered  as  Turkish, 
had  been  rising  in  importance  and  civilisation ;  they  had 
gradually  given  up  their  nomadic  habits,  had  adopted  a  settled 
life,  and  had  even  developed  a  considerable  commerce  in  fish, 
furs,  and  slaves;2  their  chief  town,  Amil,  or  Bilangiar,  near 
the  modern  Astrakhan,  commanded  the  mouth  of  the  Volsa, 
and  claimed  an  important  share  in  the  trade  of  the  Caspian  ; 
while  other  Khazar  settlements  stretched  from  the  estuary 
of  the  '  A  til '  to  that  of  the  Don.  Another  of  their  towns, 
Semender,  is  mentioned  by  Edrisi  as  near  Amil ;  and  their 
dominion  seems  to  have  extended  from  the  Caucasus  and 
the  wall  of  Derbent  in  the  South,  to  the  latitude  of 
Moscow  in  the  North.  According  to  one  tradition,  the 
ancient  Persian  ramparts  in  the  Caucasus  were  erected  by 
Chosroes  the  Just  as  a  barrier  against  the  heathen  Khazars ; 


1  Chap,  lxxxv.  The  Starr:/.  '  By 
the  star-bespangled  Heaven  ;  By  the 
predicted  day ;  By  the  witness  and 
the  witnessed — Cursed  were  the  con- 
trivers of  the  pit  of  fire,  when  they 
sat  over  against  it  and  were  witnesses 


of  what  they  inflicted  on  the  be- 
lievers .  .  .  they  hated  them  for 
their  faith  in  God.' 

2  In  exchange  for  money  and  other 
products  of  the  South. 


IV.]  CONVERSION    OF    THE    KHAZARS  223 

and  beyond  this  rampart  the  early  Arab  travellers  recog- 
nised the  same  people  as  masters  of  the  land.  Thus 
Sallam  the  Interpreter  (in  about  840)  and  Abul  Hassan  Ali, 
of  Bagdad,  surnamed  Al  Masudi  (in  about  930),  visited  and 
described  Khazaria  ;  so  did  Ibn  Foslan  in  921-2,  with  the 
special  object  of  drawing  it  within  the  pale  of  Islam ;  nor 
were  these  the  only  efforts  in  this  direction.  A  great 
number  of  the  people  did  actually  embrace  the  religion  of 
Mohammed,  and  some  of  the  early  Caliphs  relied  upon  their 
friendship  and  support  against  Constantinople.  In  the 
pursuit  of  their  trade,  however,  the  Khazars  admitted 
merchants  of  all  races  and  faiths  with  equal  tolerance,  and 
sometimes  they  appeared  rather  to  incline  to  the  Byzantines 
against  the  Saracens  ;  but  in  the  end  they  decided  in  favour  of 
the  third  of  those  claimants  who  were  pressing  them  so  hard. 
Prince  Bulan  made  careful  enquiry,  and  found  a  brilliant 
solution  of  the  difficulty.  Por  the  Christian  admitted 
Judaism  to  be  the  second  best  form  of  belief,  and  the  same 
was  granted  by  the  Moslem ;  from  this  it  was  clear  that  the 
best  was  really  that  which  each  disputant  placed  next  to 
his  own  ;  and  Bulan  therefore  decided  in  favour  of  the 
Jewish  creed,  just  as  Hellenic  opinion  after  the  Persian 
war  decided  in  favour  of  Themistocles.  After  this,  teachers 
of  the  law  of  Moses  were  brought  into  the  country,  and 
Judaism  became  a  condition  for  the  holder  of  the  sovereign 
power;  but  otherwise  the  old  toleration  continued  till  the 
overthrow  of  the  dynasty  and  the  nation,  about  the  year  of 
Christ  1000.  Chasdai  heard  of  all  this  through  the  envoys 
of  the  Byzantine  Empire  at  the  Court  of  Cordova,  and  it 
was  by  the  medium  of  a  German  Jew  (among  others)  that 
he  forwarded  his  famous  epistle  to  King  Joseph.  The 
international  character  of  the  Hebrew  race  in  the  tenth 
century  could  not  be  better  illustrated. 


224  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA,    ETC.  [C'h. 

Josippon  ben  Gorion  (otherwise  Joseph  Gorionides)  the 
translator  of  Josephus ;  Sherira  ben  Khanina,  the  principal 
of  the  Hebrew  Academy  at  Pumbeditha,  a.d.  967-997 ; 
and  Assaf,  the  mathematician,  of  c.  1050,  all  wrote 
upon  geographical  matters.  With  the  name  of  Assaf 
are  connected  some  stories  of  fabulous  travel,  but  none 
of  these  are  really  important  to  the  subject.1  After  the 
commencement  of  the  Crusades,  Nathan  ben  Jechiel  of  Eomc 
(a.d.  1101)  and  Abraham  ben  Chija,  an  astronomer  of  Barce- 
lona (1100-1130),  continue  the  list  of  Jewish  geographers — 
if  such  a  name  can  be  applied  to  writers  mainly  concerned 
with  other  interests,  in  whom  geography  is  merely  incidental 
and  allusive.  On  the  other  hand,  Abraham  ben  Meir  ben 
Ezra,  of  Spain,  who  died  at  Borne  in  1168,  was  a  considerable 
traveller,  and  visited  in  the  course  of  his  wanderings  many 
places  of  Italy,  Provence,  France,  North  Africa,  Syria,2 
Mesopotamia,2  and  the  Islands  of  the  Mediterranean 2  and 
British  Seas.2  Unfortunately  he  left  no  proper  account  of 
these  journeys.  Again  Yehuda  ben  Elia  Hadasi,  a  Karaite 
Jew,  lived  and  wrote  in  Constantinople  in  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century  (c.  a.d.  1147),  and  in  the  course  of  his  works 
referred  to  various  matters  of  physical  geography  and  to  the 
dwelling-places  of  different  religious  sects.  In  the  same 
manner,  Abraham  Halevi  ben  Daud  (or  David),  resident  at 
Toledo  in  1161,  may  be  counted  among  the  Hebrew  writers 
who  touch  on  things  geographical ;  and  the  same  may  be 
said  of  the  great  Moses  Maimonides  (a.d.  1131-1204),  who 
was  also  a  practical  traveller,  but  whose  works  have  only 
the  most  meagre  reference  to  the  subject  of  earth-knowledge. 

The  change  from  these  arid  and  scanty  jottings  to  the 

1  For    they    only    give    scattered   I    visits    to   Italy.   France,   and  North 
references.  J    Africa, but,  according  to  one  tradition 

2  These  are  less  certain  than  the    i    he  wrote  two  pamphlets  in  London. 


IV.J         DATE  OF  BENJAMIN'S  JOURNEY  :    ITS  VALUE        225 

Records  of  liabbi  Benjamin  is  a  great  and  significant  one  ; 
but  it  is  not  likely  that  he.  any  more  than  his  predecessors, 
attracted  the  attention  of  many  except  his  co-religionists. 
His  work  was  so  primarily  concerned  with  the  men  of  his 
own  race,  and  the  affairs  and  traditions  of  his  own  faith, 
that  it  would  be  impossible  for  it  to  win  the  interest  of 
mediaeval  Christendom.  Thus  the  value  of  his  narrative 
was  scarcely  recognised  until  religious  prejudice  ceased  to 
govern  the  mind  and  literature  of  Europe.  He  visited  the 
Jewish  colonies,  from  Navarre  to  Bagdad,  and  described 
those  beyond  the  Tigris  as  far  as  China ;  but  he  wrote  for 
his  own  nation,  and  few  others  cared  about  him  for  many 
centuries. 

The  date  of  Benjamin's  travels  may  be  fixed  from  in- 
ternal evidence  within  fairly  narrow  limits.  Thus  his  own 
language  makes  it  tolerably  clear  that  he  visited  Borne  after 
the  year  1159  ;  that  he  was  in  Constantinople  during  the 
reign  of  Manuel  Comnenus,  perhaps  in  the  month  of 
December,  1161;  and  that  his  account  of  Egypt  must  have 
been  composed  before  1171.  It  is  also  pretty  evident  that 
he  came  to  Bagdad  after  a  partial  revival  of  the  temporal 
power  of  the  Abbasside  Caliphs  had  begun  with  the  vigorous 
action  of  Moktafi  (a.d.  1150-1160).  The  date  of  the  Rabbi's 
return,  as  given  in  his  own  preface,  brings  us  to  the  year  of 
Christ  1173  ;  he  appears  to  have  been  in  Antioch  immediately 
after  the  accession  of  Bohemund  III.  in  1163  ;  and  he  evi- 
dently arrived  in  Sicily,  on  his  way  home,  before  the  close  of 
1169,  while  Archbishop  Stephen  of  Palermo  was  still  govern- 
ing the  island,  as  Chancellor,  during  the  minority  of 
William  II.,  the  Good. 

Benjamin's  account  of  Bagdad  and  the  Caliph  is  especi- 
ally important  in  relation  to  what  he  says  or  implies  about 
the  state  of   the    Seljuk    power   in   Western   Asia   (c.  a.d. 


226  BENJAMIN    OF   TUDELA  [Oh. 

1150-1160).  This  Empire,  after  a  short  time  of  undivided 
strength,  had  now  split  up  under  three  chief  dynasties,  and 
was  practically  separated  into  three  independent  kingdoms. 
Sultan  San  jar  of  Merv,  a  master-builder,  a  patron  of  art  and 
letters,  and  a  brave  but  unlucky  warrior,  ruled  on  the 
Murghab  and  the  Oxus,  controlling  all  the  north-eastern 
provinces:  Massud,  the  'Grand  Sultan'  or  nominal  head 
of  all  the  Seljuk  houses,  claimed  to  rule  at  Bagdad,  and  to 
control  the  Caliphate  and  the  central  provinces ;  Sultan 
Zenghi  of  Mosul  (with  his  sons  Seif-ed-clin  and  Nur-ed-din) 
was  the  most  important  prince  on  the  western  frontiers  of 
Asiatic  Islam.  But  just  before  the  era  of  Benjamin's  visit  to 
Mesopotamia,  great  changes  took  place  in  these  short-lived 
kingdoms,  through  the  deaths  of  both  Massud  and  Sanjar 
(1152-1153);  the  situation  was  made  worse  for  the  Seljuks 
by  the  fact  of  Sanjar's  death  following  upon  a  ruinous  defeat 
at  the  hands  of  the  Ghozze  Turks  from  beyond  the  Syr  Daria ; 
and  the  watchful  Abbassides  took  full  advantage  of  their 
opportunity.  The  Caliph  Moktafi,  who  had  been  as  sub- 
missive as  his  predecessors  for  the  past  sixteen  years  (1136- 
1152),  now  threw  off  the  yoke  and  recovered  a  good  deal  of 
that  imperial  power  which  the  weakness  or  necessity  of  Al 
Eadi  and  others  had  forfeited  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  tenth 
century.  Moktafi's  successor,  Mostanshed  or  Mostanieh, 
maintained  the  position  thus  won ;  and  it  was  probably 
under  this,  the  second  of  the  '  restored '  Caliphs,  that 
Babbi  Benjamin  came  to  Bagdad.  His  language  confirms 
what  we  know  from  other  sources  on  a  different  point. 

The  family  of  Zenghi,  from  jealousy  or  policy,  pursued  an 
opposite  course  of  action  from  Sanjar  and  Massud,  favouring 
that  revival  of  the  Caliphate,  which  the  senior  Seljuks  en- 
deavoured in  every  way  to  hinder ;  thus  they  gained  many 
privileges  and  a  sensible  increase  of  authority  and  dominion 


IV. J  benjamin's  objects  and  calling  227 

from  the  favour  of  the  Abbassides.  For,  however  feeble  the 
direct  temporal  sway  of  the  Moslem  pontiffs,  they  never 
ceased  to  exercise  a  considerable  secular  influence,  like  the 
Popes  of  Borne,  through  the  medium  of  spiritual  decrees, 
favours,  or  censures. 

It  is  fairly  certain  that  Benjamin  was  not  only  a  Rabbi, 
but  also  a  merchant ;  and  that  his  object  was  as  much  to 
acquire  and  diffuse  information  about  the  commercial,  as  about 
the  religious,  state  of  his  countrymen  in  distant  lands.  From 
Spain  to  Jerusalem  his  route  seems  accurately  reflected  in 
his  narrative  ;  but  from  Jerusalem  to  Damascus  and  Bagdad  it 
is  evident  that  he  does  not  follow  the  same  method  ;  for  here 
no  direct  course  is  indicated,  but  only  a  series  of  wanderings, 
backwards  and  forwards,  and  from  side  to  side.  It  is 
doubtful  how  far  east  he  penetrated,  but  it  can  hardly 
have  been  much  further  than  Bagdad,  where  he  must  have 
resided  for  a  good  space  of  time.  Here  it  was  that  he 
probably  compiled  the  latter  part  of  his  Records,  which  he 
divides  under  '  things  seen '  and  '  things  heard.'  The 
almost  complete  absence  of  the  smaller  places  and  personal 
names  so  fully  recorded  hitherto,  as.  well  as  the  compara- 
tively vague,  unhistorical,  and  unscientific  character  of  this 
trans-Tigris  section,  allow  of  scarcely  a  doubt  as  to  the 
second-hand  or  traditional  method  now  used  to  supplement 
the  first-hand  observation  of  the  earlier  narrative.  This 
earlier  narrative  may  be  sub-divided  in  two  parts,  in  one 
of  which  '  things  seen  '  are  described,  in  due  order  of  time, 
along  a  direct  and  clearly  indicated  route ;  whereas  in  the 
other,  beginning  from  Jerusalem,  although  Benjamin  still 
treats  exclusively  of  matters  within  his  own  knowledge,  no 
proper  sequence  is  observed. 

Lastly,  it  seems  probable  that  much  of  the  time  con- 
sumed  by  the  Rabbi's  journey  was  spent  in    live  places — 


228  BENJAMIN    OF   TUDELA  [Cs, 

firstly,  in  Constantinople  ;  secondly,  in  the  '  City  of  David '  ; 
thirdly,  in  the  capital  of  the  Abbassides  and  of  the  Jewish 
Princes  of  the  Captivity ;  fourthly,  in  the  great  port  of  Alex- 
andria ;  and  last,  in  Sicily,  then  perhaps  the  most  civilised  of 
Christian  countries :  that  part  of  the  Records  which  goes 
beyond  the  experience  of  the  traveller  himself  was  mainly 
compiled,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  in  one  or  other  of  these 
centres  of  mediaeval  life  and  thought.  With  Benjamin's 
information  usually  agrees  that  furnished  by  the  contem- 
porary Arabic  geographers  and  historians  ;  and  it  has  been 
proved  by  the  researches  of  Zimz  and  others  that  the  names 
of  Hebrew  magnates,  rabbis,  and  merchants,  given  by  our 
wayfarer  in  so  many  cities  from  Saragossa  to  Bagdad, 
were  really  borne  by  prominent  Jews  of  the  twelfth  century. 

Benjamin's  Records  open  with  a  preface  which  tells  how 
the  son  of  Jonah,  of  Tudela,  in  the  Kingdom  of  Navarre, 
travelled  through  many  distant  countries ;  how,  when  he 
returned,  he  brought  this  report  of  the  same  to  the  country 
of  Castile,  in  the  year  933  (a.d.  1173);  how  he  took  clown 
in  writing,  at  each  place,  what  he  saw  or  what  was  told  him 
by  men  of  integrity,  whose  names  were  known  in  Spain ; 
how  the  names  of  such  reliable  informants  were  mentioned 
by  the  author  under  their  respective  abodes ;  how  the  said 
Benjamin  was  admitted  to  be  a  man  of  wisdom  and  pos- 
sessed of  deep  knowledge  ;  and  how,  after  strict  enquiry,  he 
was  also  found  to  be  a  true  witness  and  his  words  altogether 
to  be  approved  as  credible.1 

This  being  assured,  the  reader  might  proceed  with  con- 
fidence in  the  steps  of  the  Eabbi.  The  '  Eeports '  which  follow 
have  perhaps  been  abridged  from  a  longer  original ;  but  the 

1  This  preface  is  of  practically  the   same  age  as   the   narrative  it  intro- 
duces, but  by  another  hand.     Cf.  Asher,  Benjamin.  II.,  1. 


IV.]  FROM    SAEAGOSSA    TO    MARSEILLES  229 

abridgment  lias  not,  in  any  case,  been  made  with  the  ruth- 
lessness  from  which  Petachia  has  suffered. 

Starting  at  Saragossa  and  passing  through  Tortosa, 
Benjamin  came  down  the  Ebro  to  Tarragona,  famous  for 
cyclopean  and  pelasgic  buildings  unique  in  Spain ;  these 
had  been  much  damaged  by  the  Saracens  in  ad.  719,  on 
the  overthrow  of  the  Gothic  and  Christian  kingdom ;  but 
in  1038  the  Archbishop  of  Toledo  had  undertaken  a  partial 
restoration,  and  thus  the  traveller's  attention  may  have  been 
especially  drawn  to  works  which  the  present  age  has  again 
neglected. 

Barcelona  was  a  small  port,  but  already  frequented  by 
merchants  from  various  cities  and  lands — Genoa.  Pisa,  Sicily, 
Greece,  and  the  more  distant  harbours  of  Palestine,  as  well 
as  Alexandria  in  Egypt.  Thence  the  route  lay  through 
Gerona,  xTarbonne,  famous  for  its  university  and  legal 
school,  Beziers,  and  Har  Gaash  or  Montpellier,  a  great 
centre  of  trade,  ranking  next  to  Marseilles  in  this  part  of 
the  world,  where  Benjamin  notices  the  presence  of  merchants 
from  Portugal  or  '  Algarve,'  Lombardy  and  its  havens  of 
Genoa  and  Pisa,  Egypt  and  Palestine,  England  and  Francia, 
Greece  and  the  Roman  Empire.  The  Rabbi  next  visited 
Nogres  or  Bourg  de  St.  Gilles  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhone, 
a  famous  place  of  Christian  pilgrimage,  and  the  home  of  a 
prominent  Jew,  the  steward  of  the  leading  Christian  prince 
of  the  Languedoc,  Raymond  V.  of  Toulouse.  This  fortunate 
and  powerful  Hebrew,  Abba  Mari,  was  representative  of  the 
extraordinary  prosperity  of  his  race  in  Provence  and  the 
Narbonnese,  wdiere  Jews  might  be  counted  by  hundreds  in 
every  large  city,  and  where  alike  in  commercial  and  intel- 
lectual matters  they  wielded  an  influence  of  strong  and 
subtle  potency.  Their  connection  with  the  heretical  move- 
ments, even  then  (c.  1160)  agitating  the  South  of  France,  has 


230 


BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA 


[Ch. 


often  been  asserted ;  it  is  easy  to  prove  in  one  sense,  difficult 
in  another ;  probably  their  presence  and  the  favour  they 
enjoyed  in  the  dominions  of  the  House  of  Toulouse  was  a 
sign  rather  than  a  cause  of  the  impending  trouble  ;  as  yet 
it  was  not  thought  unbecoming  to  employ  Jews  in  positions 
of  high  trust  about  the  Papal  Court  itself. 

At  Marseilles,  Benjamin  took  ship  for  Genoa,  and  about 
four  days  brought  him  from  the  ancient  Phokaean  city,  still 
celebrated  for  its  commerce  and  learning,  to  the  leading 
Christian  port  of  the  Western  Mediterranean.  Genoa, 
'  mistress  of  the  sea,'  was  now  at  war  with  Pisa ;  but  the 
rivals  had  many  points  in  common.  Both  were  fortified  ; 
both  were  often  disturbed  by  civil  strife,  when  fighting  raged 
from  house  to  house ;  both  possessed  a  brave  and  daring 
populace,  which  would  not  suffer  the  rule  of  any  king  or 
prince,  but  entrusted  power  to  senators  chosen  by  the 
popular  vote ;  lastly,  both  had  to  lament  a  scanty  Semitic 
element. 

At  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  a  later  Jewish 
traveller  reported  an  almost  total  absence  of  his  nation  on 
all  this  coast,  from  Provence  to  Rome  ;  Benjamin  only 
speaks  of  two  *  Israelites  in  Genoa,  twenty  in  Pisa ;  but 
the  former  were  visitors  from  the  distant  Ceuta  on  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar ;  and  the  Tuscany  of  this  period,  like 
the  Scotland  of  more  recent  time,  seems  to  have  offered 
but  a  poor  opening  for  Hebrew  industry. 

From  Pisa  and  its  10,000  embattled  houses,  covering  a 
vast  area,  the  Rabbi  moves  on  to  Lucca  and  Rome,  the 
'metropolis'    of     Christendom.       Even    here    Jews1    were 


1  Milman,  History  of  the  Jews, 
bk.  xxvii.  vol.  iii.  pp.  325-336, 
edition  of  1863,  maintains  the  theory 
that  the  Jews  were  better  treated  in 
Italy   than   in   any   other   Christian 


country,  partly  because  here  they 
monopolised  wealth  and  trade  far  less 
than  elsewhere.  The  reference  of 
the  text  makes  it  probable  that 
Benjamin's   visit  to   Rome  was   be- 


IV.]  FKOM    PROVENCE    TO    ROME  231 

found,  some  of  them  being  in  the  service  of  the  Pope  ;  one 
was  the  steward  of  the  household  of  Alexander  III.  and 
minister  of  his  private  property.  Thus  the  same  pontiff 
was  the  patron  of  '  Eabbi  Daniel  and  Rabbi  Jechiel '  and 
of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury.  Few  better  illustrations  could 
be  desired  of  the  tolerance  and  liberality  which  is  sometimes 
to  be  found  even  in  the  most  exclusive  circles  of  mediaeval 
society. 

In  Borne  Benjamin  has  many  singular  legends  to  tell 
us,  chiefly  taken  from  the  writings  of  Joseph  ben  Gorion, 
and  occasionally  resembling  similar  tales  in  Christian  writers 
of  which  one  in  William  of  Malmesbury  may  be  taken  as  an 
example.1 

Beginning  with  a  fairly  matter-of-fact  account  of  the 
'  large  place  of  worship  called  St.  Peter's,  on  the  site  of 
the  wide-spreading  palace  of  Julius  Caesar,'  the  visitor  goes  on 
to  describe  the  eighty  halls  of  the  eighty  eminent  kings  who 
were  all  called  Emperors,  from  Tarquin  to  Pepin,  the  father 
of  Charles,  who  first  conquered  Spain  from  the  Saracens 
Among  these  was  the  palace  of  Titus,  who  was  rejected  by 
three  hundred  senators  for  having  wasted  three  years  over  the 
conquest  of  Jerusalem,  which,  according  to  their  will,  he  should 
have  accomplished  in  two  years ;  here  also  was  to  be  seen  the 
hall  of  King  Galba,  containing  three  hundred  and  sixty  win- 
dows, one  for  each  day  in  the  year,  and  having  a  circumfer- 
ence of  nearly  three  miles.  Besides  these  wonders  Benjamin 
describes  a  cave  underground,  containing  a  king2  of  Borne 
upon  his  throne,  with  his  queen  and  about  one  hundred 
nobles  of  his  Court,  all  embalmed  and  in  good  preservation. 
To  the  Jewish  visitor  an  object  of  special  interest  was  St. 


tween  1159  and  1161,  or  between  1165 
and  1167  ;  for  Alexander  III.,  though 
he  reigned  1159-1181,  was  away  from 


through  fear  of  Frederic  Barbarossa. 

1  Gesta  Eegum,  ii.,  §§  205,  206. 

2  'The    Kins'   is    Benjamin's   ex- 


the    city   1161-1165   and  1167-1177,       pressiou  ;  which,  he  leaves  uncertain. 


232  BENJAMIN    OF    TTJDELA  [Ch. 

John  Lateran  ; 1  for  there  were  two  copper  pillars  made  by 
Solomon,  whose  name  was  engraved  upon  each.  The  Jews 
of  Rome  related  that  every  year,  about  the  9th  of  Ab,  the 
time  of  the  destruction  of  both  Temples,  these  pillars 
sweated  so  much  that  the  water  ran  down  from  them. 
There  also  was  the  cave  in  which  Titus,  the  son  of 
Vespasian,  hid  the  vessels  of  the  Temple  which  he  brought 
from  Jerusalem ;  and  in  another  cave  on  the  banks  of  the 
Tiber  were  the  sepulchres  of  the  ten  martyrs,  or  ancient 
teachers  of  the  Mishna,  who  suffered  in  the  period  between 
Vespasian  and  Hadrian.  Opposite  St.  John  Lateran  there 
were  statues  of  Samson  (with  a  lance  of  stone  in  his  hand) ; 
of  Absalom,  and  of  Constantine,  who  built  the  city  '  which 
is  called  after  his  name,'  the  last  an  equestrian  figure  in 
copper  gilt.  Benjamin's  Absalom  may  be  difficult  to 
recognise,  but  his  Samson  is  obviously  a  Hercules,  We  may 
remember  that  as  the  Jewish  traveller  puts  his  own  national 
legends  to  fit  classical  objects  in  Rome,  so  King  Sigurd's 
Norsemen  in  Constantinople  recognise  in  the  figures  of  the 
Hippodrome  their  own  heroic  Asers,  Volsungers,  and  Giu- 
kungers. 

The  next  stage  in  the  journey  brings  us  through  Capua 
to  '  Pozzuolo  or  Sorrento,' 2  '  a  large  city  built  by  Tsintsan 
Hadareser,  who  fled  in  fear  of  King  David.'  This  town 
had  been  inundated  by  the  sea,  and  the  streets  and  towers 
of  the  submerged  dwellings  were  still  to  be  seen.  It  is 
now  well  known  that  on  this  coast  various  old  Roman  villas 
are  covered  by  the  sea,  and  this  naturally  gave  rise  to 
stories  of  submerged  cities.  Here,  also,  were  hot  springs 
producing  the  petroleum  used  by  physicians  ;  and  hot  baths, 
a  cure,  or  at  least  a  relief,  for  almost  every   disease,  and 

1  In  Porta  Latum,  Benjamin  calls  it.    I   eh.   3,   who  also  speaks  of  petroleum 
-  From  Joseph  Gorionides,   hk.  i.    I    here.     Of,  Asher's  Benjamin,  ii.  27. 


IV.] 


FEOM    ROME    TO    CORFTT 


233 


frequented  in  summer  by  crowds  of  sick  folk  from  the 
whole  of  Lombardy.  Thence  fifteen  miles  along  a  causeway 
under  the  mountains  (built  by  Eomnlus,  the  founder  of 
Rome,  who  feared  David  King  of  Israel  and  Joab  his 
general)  brought  the  traveller  to  Naples  and  Salerno, 
where  was  the  chief  medical  school  of  Latin  Christendom,1 
and  where  no  less  than  six  hundred  Jews  resided.  For  the 
mediaeval  world,  whatever  it  might  say  against  the  Hebrew 
race,  generally  admitted  their  pre-eminence  in  medicine. 
Close  by  was  Amalfi,  where  most  people  were  busied  in 
trade,  not  tilling  the  ground,  but  buying  everything  for  money, 
though  it  is  hardly  true,  as  Benjamin  says,  that  '  no  one 
dared  make  war  upon  them,'  for  the  city  had  been  sacked 
by  the  Pisans  in  1135  ;  yet  it  existed  as  a  Eepublic  till  1310, 
and  had  its  consuls  at  Naples  till  1190  ;  Edrisi,2  about 
1150,  calls  it  a  flourishing  city;  and  even  in  its  decay 
it  was  still  among  the  foremost  ports  of  Italy.  Next 
Benjamin  passes  into  Apulia,  '  the  Pul  of  Scripture  ' ;  and 
here  were  the  harbours  of  Trani,  a  favourite  place  for 
pilgrim-embarkation  to  Jerusalem  ;  of  Bari,3  which  had  been 
destroyed  by  '  William  of  Sicily,'  or  rather  by  the  Byzan- 
tines of  Manuel  Comnenus  during  the  reign  of  William  the 
Bad ;  of  Taranto  and  Brindisi ;  and  of  Otranto,  where  the 
Rabbi  seems  to  have  taken  ship  for  Corfu. 

This    Island,4    long    part    of   the    Norman    Kingdom    of 


1  Cf.  Ordericus  Vitalis,  Hist.  JEccl. 
II.  iii.  11  ;  Gibbon,  ch.  lvi.  (and 
Bury's  notes,  vol.  vi.  pp.  189,  190, 
of  his  edition)  on  the  doctors  of  this 
school,  who  were  already  celebrated 
in  the  tenth  century  and  from  whose 
work  we  possess  fragments  as  early 
as  the  eleventh.  Cf.  Asher's 
Benjamin,  ii.  28. 

-  Edrisi,  ii.   253.   Cf.   Asher's  Ben- 


jamin,  ii..   30-1.     Here,  in  contrast 
to  Salerno,  were  only  twenty  Jews. 

3  Benjamin  calls  it  St.  Nicholas 
de  Bari,  after  the  Church  and  Priory 
built  in  1098  and  endowed  by  the 
Norman  Roger,  Great  Duke  of 
Apulia,  Calabria,  and  Sicily,  and 
successor  of  Robert  Guiscard. 

4  Here,  alas,  there  was  only  one 
Jew, 


234  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA  [Ch. 

Sicily  and  South  Italy,  had  been  reconquered  in  1149  by 
the  Emperor  Manuel  during  that  last  flicker  of  Byzantine 
energy  which  marks  his  reign  ;  but  the  traveller  seems 
ignorant  of  this  change  in  its  fortunes,  and  marks  the 
confines  of  the  '  Kingdom  of  Greece '  at  Arta  and  Patras.1 

Of  the  Peloponnese  Benjamin  tells  us  little,  merely 
noticing  Lepanto  and  Corinth ;  but  the  great  colony  of  two 
thousand  Jewish  dyers  and  silk-workers  in  Thebes  arrests 
his  attention,  while  the  learning  of  the  Babbis  in  the  same 
colony  excites  his  admiration.2  No  scholars  like  them  were 
to  be  found  in  the  whole  Greek  Empire,  save  at  Con- 
stantinople ;  the  Hebrew  element  formed  a  tenth  of  the 
entire  city  of  '  Stivas ' ;  and  among  their  other  trades  or 
handicrafts  that  of  St.  Paul  was  professed  by  many.  Hard 
by,  on  Mount  Parnassus,  was  another  settlement  of  Israelites, 
two  hundred  strong,  engaged  on  the  unusual  and  uncon- 
genial pursuit  of  agriculture. 

From  Thebes  to  the  large  city  of  Negropon't,  a  resort  of 
merchants  from  all  parts ;  from  Negropont,  by  way  of 
Vlachia  or  Wallachia,  to  the  great  commercial  harbour  of 
Armiro  on  the  Gulf  of  Volo,  frequented  by  Venetians, 
Pisans,  and  Genoese  ;  and  from  Armiro  to  Saloniki,  Dmi- 
trizi  near  the  Strymon,  and  Christopoli  opposite  Thasos, 
Benjamin  makes  his  way  to  Constantinople.  He  evidently 
passed  along  the  great  coast  road  on  the  northern  shore  of  the 
Archipelago,  and  so  perhaps  entered  the  city  of  Constantine 
by  land,  unless  (like  many)  he  took  ship  again  at  Christopoli.3 

1  Benjamin's  story  of  the  origin  of  I  Greece  in  the  early  Middle  Ages. 
Patras  is  copied  from  Joseph  Gorion-  j  Asher  believes  that  it  was  a  "Walla- 
ides,  bk.  ii.  ch.  23.                                   ■  chian    town  ;     and    the     Vlachi    or 

2  Cf.  Gibbon,  ch.  liii.  pp.  71,  72,  j  Wallachians,  an  atheist  people 
of  vol.  vi.  in  Bury's  edition.                   j  nimble  as  deer — great  brigands,  inde- 

3  Benjamin  also  passed  (a)  Jabus-  \  pendent  of  all,  and  dreaded  by  all, 
trisa,  probably  a  Slav  colony,  dating  not  professing  Christianity  and  hav- 
from  the  great  Slav  immigration  into  |  ing  many  Jewish  names, — are  men- 


TV.]        FROM  PATEAS  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE      235 

No  mediaeval  traveller  has  given  a  better  account  of  the 
Queen  of  Cities,  and  here  at  any  rate  the  original  text  of 
the  narrative  has  probably  escaped  abridgment.  The  cir- 
cumference of  this  :  Metropolis  of  the  Greeks  and  residence 
of  King  Manuel '  was  then  a  matter  of  eighteen  miles.  One 
half  of  the  city  was  bounded  by  the  Continent,  one  half  by 
the  sea  ;  and  of  this  sea  two  arms  here  met  together,  the 
one  a  branch  or  outlet  of  the  Russian  waters,1  the  other  of 
the  Spanish.  Great  stir  and  bustle  prevailed  at  Con- 
stantinople, because  of  the  meeting  therein  of  so  many 
merchants,  who  came  from  all  parts  of  the  world  both  by 
land  and  sea,  from  Babylon  and  Mesopotamia,  from  Media 
and  Persia,  from  Egypt  and  Palestine,  as  well  as  from 
Russia,  Hungary,  '  Budia '  or  Bulgaria,  Lombard}',  Spain, 
and  the  land  01  the  Petchinegs.2  Bagdad  alone  equalled  it 
as  an  emporium.  Moreover,  at  Constantinople  was  the 
house  of  prayer  called  Santa  Sophia,  the  metropolitan  seat 
of  the  Pope  of  the  Greeks,  who  were  at  variance  with  the 
Pope  of  Rome.  All  the  other  places  of  worship  in  the 
whole  world  did  not  ecrual  this  in  riches.  It  had  pillars 
and  lamps  of  silver  and  gold,  and  altars  as  many  as  the  clays 
in  the  year.  It  is  not  surprising  if  the  Eabbi  trips  among 
all  these  details  of  Christian  ritual ;    but    a    laro;e   number 


tioned  by  the  Eabbi  immediately 
afterwards ;  (p)EctbenieaovIlavenique, 
which  seems  now  impossible  to  fix, 
though  noticed  by  several  mediaeval 
writers,  e.g.  Henri  de  Valenciennes, 
Chronique,  ed.  Buchon,  p.  259  ;  (7) 
Gardiki  or  Carcliki,  a  little  town  on 
the  Gulf  of  Volo  and  the  seat  of  a 
bishop ;  and  (5)  Bissina,  mentioned  by 
other  mediaeval  writers  as  Vissina, 
Vessina,  and  Bezena.  Saloniki  in 
Benjamin's  figures  contains  more  Jews 
(500)  than  any  other  town  in  Greece, 
Thebes     excepted.        'Mitrizzi'      or 


Dmitrizi,  near  the  ancient  Amphi- 
polis,  is  another  Slav  town.  Drama 
is  the  Dramine  of  Yillehardouin  : 
Nikephoros  Gregoras  also  calls  it 
Drama ;  it  was  near  the  ancient 
Philippi. 

1  The  Black  Sea  is  probably  so 
called  because  the  Russian  piratical 
dashes  across  it  had  now  become  a 
famous  tradition. 

2  This  people,  after  1122,  when 
the  Byzantines  decisively  repulsed 
their  raids,  had  become  more  peaceful, 
and  taken  to  agriculture  and  trade, 


236  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA  [Oh. 

of  altars  has  never  been  the  practice  of  the  Eastern 
Church. 

In  the  Hippodrome,  near  the  wall  of  the  palace,  the  im- 
perial sports  were  held  ;  and  here  the  birthday  of  Jesus  the 
Nazarene  was  yearly  celebrated  with  unequalled  games. 
Representatives  of  every  nation  under  Heaven  might  then 
be  seen  gathered  together  to  witness  the  amazing  feats  of 
jugglery  and  the  fights  of  animals  which  were  exhibited  in 
that  place. 

Benjamin  describes  like  an  eye-witness,  and  it  has  been 
already  suggested  that  he  was  present  at  the  festivities  of 
the  Christmastide  of  1161,  when  Manuel  Comnenus1  married 
Maria,  daughter  of  the  Prince  of  Antioch.  Likewise  we 
may  well  believe  that  the  Jewish  visitor  saw  the  interior 
of  the  Palace  of  Blachernae,2  its  pillars  and  walls  covered 
with  pure  gold,  its  pictures  of  ancient  battles  and  of  the 
victories  of  Manuel  himself,  its  throne  of  gold  adorned  with 
jewels,  and  its  hanging  crown  suspended  over  the  imperial 
seat  and  blazing  with  precious  stones  so  brilliant  that  the 
room  needed  no  other  light. 

The  tribute  brought  to  Constantinople  every  year  from  all 
parts  of  Greece,  in  silks  3  and  purple  cloths  and  gold,  rilled 
many  towers.  The  city  alone  paid  up  to  20,000  florins  a 
day,  from  the  rents  of  hostelries  and  bazaars,  and  from  the 
gate  and  harbour   duties   paid   by   merchants  entering  the 


1  1143-1180. 

2  On  the  Palace  of  Blachernae,  cf. 
Niketas,  In  Manuel e  ;  Kinnamos,  v., 


topographia,  1632  ;  Jules  Labarte,  Le 
Palais  imperial,  etc.,  1861  ;  and  D. 
Th.   Bielaiev  in  his  (Russian)   essay 


3;    Gibbon,    ch.    liii.    (vi..     75-8,  of  |    on  the  Palace,  1891 


Bury's  edition.  Also  see  Bury's  addi- 
tional note  9  to  vol.  ii.  p.  546)  ;  Le 
Beau.    88,    38,  who  collects   the  de- 


3  Gibbon,  ch.  liii.,  quotes  Fal- 
candus,  the  Sicilian  historian  (c.  a.d. 
1190),  on  the  Greek  manufacture  of 


tails    from  Niketas  and  Kinnamos  ;  silk.       Falcandus    describes  all    the 

Ducange,  Gonstantinopolis  Christiana,  various  methods  of  working  the  silk, 

especially  bk.  ii..  ch.  iv.,  pp.  113-123  ;  |    and  what  he  says  is  a  good  illustration 

Petrus  Gyllius,    /  v  Constantinopolcos  '    of  Benjamin's  language  here. 


iv.] 


DESCRIPTION    OF    CONSTANTINOPLE 


23? 


town.  Many  rich  Greeks  dwelt  in  the  country,  in  appear- 
ance like  princes,  dressed  in  silk  and  gold  and  jewels,  and 
riding  upon  horses.  Not  less  rich  was  the  land  itself,  pro- 
ducing bread,  meat,  wine,  and  every  delicacy ;  and  here  also 
were  learned  men,1  well  skilled  in  the  Greek  sciences,  and 
living  in  peace  and  comfort,  every  man  under  his  vine  and 
fig-tree. 

This  brings  Benjamin  to  the  one  shadow  which  he  throws 
over  his  glowing  picture  of  the  Byzantine  State.  The 
Greeks  had  every  luxury  and  every  grace,  but  nothing 
could  give  them  the  spirit  of  men.  Like  women  they  were 
fit  for  no  warlike  enterprise  themselves,  but  hired  soldiers 
of  all  nations  (whom  they  called  Barbarians)  to  carry  on 
their  wars  with  the  Sultan  of  the  Turks.-  No  Jews  dwelt 
in  the  city  with  the  Christians ;  they  were  forced  to  reside 
beyond  that  arm  of  the  sea  where  they  were  shut  in  by  the 
'  Channel  of  Sophia,'  and  they  could  reach  the  central  part 
of  the  town  by  water  only.3  Nor  could  any  Jew  ride  upon 
a  horse,  save  one,  the  Imperial  Physician,  by  whose  influence 
the  Hebrews  enjoyed  many  relaxations  of  oppression,  even 
if  no  abatement  of  the  popular  hatred.  For  Jews  were  still 
often  beaten  in  the  streets,  and  tanners  took  special  delight 
in  pouring  the  water  of  their  tanneries  upon  passing  Israelites, 
'  who  being  thus  defiled  become  objects  of  contempt  to  the 


1  Asher,  Benjamin  ii.  51,  refers 
(following  Gibbon,  ch.  liii.)  to  the 
Byzantine  scholars  and  writers,  Anna 
Komnena,  the  Empress  Eudocia, 
Stobaeus,  Suidas,  Eustathius,  Tzet- 
zes,  etc.,  in  illustration  of  this  remark 
of  Benjamin's,  which  probably  has 
especial  reference  to  Jewish  scholars. 

2  Thogarmim.  Among  the  soldiers 
whom  the  Greeks  hired  were  (1)  the 
Vaerings  or  Varangians,  mostly 
Scandinavians  and  English,  but  also 


sometimes  including  various  Slavonic 
or  Slavo-Norse  hands  ;  (2)  these 
Slavo-Norsemen  reckoned  separately, 
viz.  Russians,  etc.  ;  and  (3)  Bul- 
garians, Alans,  Khazars,  and  other 
Turco-Tartars. 

3  The  Jewish  quarter,  called 
'Stanor'  (Stenon),  was  beyond  the 
Galata  Tower,  near  the  entrance  of  the 
Port  of  the  Golden  Horn,  and  on  the 
Bosphorus  itself,  cf.  Villehardouin, 
153  ;  Asher,  Benjamin,  ii. ,  53. 


238 


BENJAMIN    OF    TCDELA 


[Oh. 


Greeks.'  The  Hebrew  trade  was  largely  in  silk  and  cloth, 
and  the  place  of  their  colony,  2500  strong,  was  called 
Pera.1 

From  the  Bosphorus,  through  Eodosto,2  G-allipoli, 
Mitylene,  Chios,3  Samos,  and  Ehodes,  the  next  stage  of  the 
Records  brings  us  to  Cyprus,  where  Benjamin  was  shocked 
by  the  atrocities  of  certain  heretic  Jews,  '  Cyprians  and 
Epicureans,'  who  profaned  the  eve  of  the  Sabbath  and 
hallowed  that  of  the  Sunday.4  Two  days'  journey  from 
Cyprus  was  the  frontier  of  Armenia  the  Little,  and  the 
realm  of  Thoros,5  King  of  the  Mountains  (of  Cilicia),  whose 
rule  extended  to  the  land  of  the  Turks.  From  this  it  is 
clear  that  the  Eabbi  passed  by  this  coast  before  1167,  when 
Thoros  died,  at  peace  and  in  terms  of  vassalage  with  the 
Emperor  Manuel,  whom  he  had  so  long  resisted.  Benjamin 
evidently  crossed  from  Cyprus  to  the  Cilician  or  Armenian 
coast  at  Corycus  or  Korghos,  the  Kirkes  of  Edrisi ;  and  he 
passed  out  of  the  dominions  of  the  Byzantines  or  '  Javanites ' 
at  Malmistras  or  Mopsuestia,  which  he  strangely  identifies 
with  Tarsus.0 

A  little  beyond  this  border-line  was  Great  Antioch, 
strongly  fortified,  but  overlooked  by  a  very  high  mountain, 
and  possessed  by  Prince  Bohemund 7  the  Poitevin,  surnamed 
the    Stammerer,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  principality  of 


1  By  the  Greeks  themselves  it  was 
generally  reckoned  a  part  of  Galata. 

2  lihadesta  in  Ptolemy, .  formerly 
Bisanthe ;  the  modern  name  first 
occurs  in  Benjamin,  next  in  Yille- 
hardouin. 

3  Then,  as  now,  famous  for  its 
Mastic,  cf.  Edrisi,  ii.  127,  who 
makes  Samos  also  a  centre  of  this 
trade. 

4  So  they  were  not  Karaites,  any- 
how, as  Rapaport  points  out. 


6  The  town  of  Dhuchiawas  onThoro 
frontier.  Benjamin's  phrase  appar- 
ently refers  to  his  past  life  as  a  rebel. 
On  Kirkes,  cf.  Edrisi,  ii.  130. 

6  The  two  places,  of  course,  were 
thoroughly  distinct,  and  about  45 
miles  from  one  another ;  both  had 
been  reconquered  by  Manuel  Com- 
nenus  in  1155. 

7  Bohemund  III.,  Prince  of 
Antioch,  1163-1200.  On  Antioch,  cf. 
William  of  Tyre,  iv.  9,  10. 


IV.] 


FROM    THE    BOSPHORTJS    TO    LEBANON 


239 


Antioch  shortly  before.  Thence  by  way  of  Latakiyeh x  and 
under  Mount  Lebanon,  where  Benjamin  stops  to  tell  us  about 
the  Assassins  of  this  region,  who  did  not  believe  in  the 
tenets  of  Mohammed,  but  in  those  of  one  whom  they  thought 
'  like  unto  the  prophet  Kharmath.' 2  This  chief,  their  Lord 
and  Master  in  life  and  death,  was  called  the  Old  Man;3  his 
dwelling  was  in  the  city  or  castle  of  Cadmus,4  which  was 
the  Kedemoth  of  Scripture  in  the  land  of  Sihon ;  and  his 
followers  were  the  dread  of  all  men,  for  they  would  kill 
even  a  king  whom  their  chief  had  once  devoted  to  death. 
They  were  now  at  war  with  the  Frank  Christians,  and 
especially  with  the  Count  of  Tripoli ; 6  but  they  were  just  as 
hostile  to  many  of  the  Moslems.  The  name  of  these  Assassins 
is  no  doubt  from  the  drug  Hashish ;  and  their  society, 
which  somewhat  resembled  the  Templars  as  a  union  of  war 
and  religion,  was  formed  in  Persia  (c.  a.d.  1090)  by  Hassan6 
Ibn  Sabah,  at  the  Castle  of  Alamut,  in  the  province  of  Eudbar. 
Eadically,  it  was  a  branch  of  the  Shiites  or  supporters  of  Ali, 


1  Lega,  the  ancient  Laodicea, 
founded  by  Seleucus  Nikator  in 
honour  of  his  mother,  cf.  Edrisi,  ii. 
131. 

2  Founder  of  the  '  Carmathians,' 
who  held  a  doctrine  of  the  transmigra- 
tion of  the  souls  of  their  founders. 
In  this  the  Assassins  do  not  seem  to 
have  agreed. 

3  A  translation  of  ShayJch  [-a/- 
Hashishin] ;  also  called  the  Shaykh  or 
Chieftain  ( '  Old  Man '  i.e.  '  Elder  )  of 
the  mouutain,  i.e.  Lebanon. 

4  Cf.  Asher,  Benjamin,  ii.  66,  on 
the  '  castle  of  Cadmus  in  the  country 
of  the  Anziery.' 

5  The  Count  of  Tripoli  in  Ben- 
jamin's time  was  Raymond  II.,  also 
Count  of  Toulouse  and  St.  Gilles. 
In  1187  he  bequeathed  the  county  of 
Tripoli  to  his  godson  Raymond,  son 


of  Bohemund  III.,  thus  uniting  the 
counties  of  Antioch  and  Tripoli  from 
the  accession  of  Raymond's  brother, 
Bohemund  IV. 

6  A  minority  derive  the  name  of 
'  Assassin  '  from  this  Hassan.  Cf. , 
besides  liashid  -  ecl  -  din,  (1)  A. 
Jourdain,  Dynastic  cles  Ismaeliens, 
and  Notices  et  extraits,  ix.    143,  etc. 

(2)  De  Sacy,  Chrestomathie  arabe,  i. 
130 ;  Memoire  sur  les  Assassins, 
1809  ;  and  Religion  cles  Druzcs,  1838. 

(3)  Quatremere's  Notices  sur  les  As- 
sassins ou  Ismaeliens  (Mines  dc 
VOrient),  iv.  339.  (4)  Hammer, 
Geschichte  der  Assassiner,  1818  ;  E. 
trans.,  1835.  (5)  Wilken,  GesckicJde 
der  Kreuzziige,  ii.  240.  (6)  Ritter, 
Erdkunde,  viii.  577,  etc.  (7)  Falconet, 
in  Acad.  Inscr.,  xvii.  127-170;  (8) 
Guyard,  in  Journ.  Asiat.,  1877. 


240  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA  [Ch. 

and  so  in  alliance  with  the  Fatimites  of  Egypt.  The  title 
of  Ismaelites  or  Ismadians,  also  applied  to  them,  was  derived 
from  Ismael,  seventh  Imam  in  the  line  of  Ali,  a  descendant  of 
whom  became  founder  of  the  Fatimites  (a.d.  909).  Properly, 
the  Assassins  seem  to  have  been  themselves  a  branch  of  the 
Ismaelian  secret  societies,  who  under  a  cloak  of  extreme 
religiousness  taught  absolute  atheism,  lawlessness,  and  licence, 
and  hence  were  called  Mulehet  or  heretics ;  Alamut,  their 
stronghold  in  the  Lebanon,  was  destroyed  by  Sultan  Bibars 
in  1270.  Jebail  or  Byblus,  Benjamin's  next  resting-place,  was 
governed  at  this  time  by  seven  Genoese  chiefs,  among  whom 
was  one  Julian  (otherwise  Hugo,  otherwise  William),  of  the 
great  family  of  the  Embriaci ;  to  the  same  house  also 
belonged  the  Admiral  of  the  Fleet  which  in  1109  took 
Byblus  from  the  Saracens.1  This  victory  was  a  leading- 
incident  of  the  Crusades,  and  the  conqueror  became  feudal 
lord  of  the  city  on  condition  of  paying  a  certain  annual  sum 
to  the  state  of  Genoa.  In  Benjamin's  time  the  Government 
of  Byblus  seems  to  have  been  carried  on  by  a  committee 
of  seven,  six  nominated  by  Genoa,  while  the  seventh  was 
always  an  Embriaco,  who  acted  as  President  of  Council. 
Two  clays'  journey  from  Byblus  was  Beyrout ;  a  little 
further  Saida  or  Sidon  ;  -  and  within  twenty  miles  of  the 
last  lived  the  Druses.  This  strange  sect  confessed  no 
religion  ;  their  dwellings  were  on  the  summits  of  the 
mountains  and  on  the  ridges  of  rocks  ;  and  they  were  not 
subject  to  any  prince.  Mount  Hernion  was  their  boundary. 
Their  life  was  vicious,  and  in  their  folly  they  believed  in 

1  Cf.  William  of  Tyre,  xi.  9,  who  I  queror  Willelmus. 

says  that  Hugo  Embriaco  was  govern-  t        -  On     Beyrout     and     Sidon,     cf. 

in"    Byblus   when   he   wrote    (about  |  Edrisi,  i.    354-356.     On    Benjamin's 

a.d.    1180),    'being  a   grandson    of  '  story  of  the  temple  and  idol  of  the 

the   Hugo   who   conquered    it,'   but  j  Ammonites  at  Jebail,  cf.  Strabo,  xvi. , 

ail   other    historians   call    the    con-  |  ii.  18. 


IV.]  DESCRIPTION    OF    JERUSALEM  241 

the  transmigration  of  souls ;  but  they  were  unequalled 
mountain-climbers  and  lived  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Jews. 

Benjamin  was  perhaps  aware  that  their  belief  was 
derived  from  the  Carmathians,  and  that,  according  to  some, 
the  Druses  were  originally  known  as  Karmath  ;  like  the 
Assassins  and  Fatimites,  they  were  probably  a  branch  of  the 
Ali  schism  and  so  '  Ismaelians ' ;  but  the  mad  Fatimite 
Caliph  Hakim  became  their  especial  hero  and  prophet.  All 
these  secret  societies  of  early  Islam  adopted  allegorical 
interpretations  of  the  Koran,  and  so  broke  every  law  of 
Mohammed  with  untroubled  conscience. 

In  Palestine  itself  Benjamin's  descriptions  are  usually 
much  more  accurate  than  those  of  the  Christian  pilgrims  ;  and 
in  Jerusalem  he  shows  to  peculiar  advantage,  giving  as  many 
facts  and  little  fiction.  Thus  he  notices  the  ancient  stones 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  city  walls,  the  stables  and  hospitals 
of  Solomon,  the  large  prayer-house  called  'Sepulchre' 
(containing  'the  tomb  of  that  man,  visited  by  all  pilgrims'), 
and  the  cupola,  on  the  site  of  the  Temple,  built  by,  or 
bearing  the  name  of,  Omar.  In  the  Holy  City,  small  as  it 
was,  people  of  all  tongues  met  together — Jacobites  and 
Armenians,  Greeks  and  Georgians,  Franks  and  Jews  ; 
these  last,  two  hundred  in  number,  had  command  of  the 
dyeing  trade,  and  paid  a  yearly  sum  to  the  Christian  king 
for  the  monopoly  of  this  business.  The  four  Gates  of 
Jerusalem,  the  Tower  of  David,  the  position  of  the  Templars, 
and  the  character  of  their  Order,  the  isolated  situation  of 
Mount  Sion,  the  sepulchral  monuments 1  and  high  moun- 
tains in  the  neighbourhood,  are  all  well,  though  briefly, 
described  by  the  liabbi ;  he  is  less  satisfactory  in  some  of 
the  more  out-lying  parts  of  his  own  sacred  country.     Caesarea 

1  He  tells  us  a  long  story  about  the  miracles  that  had  defeated  a 
recent  attempt  to  enter   the   sepulchres  of  the  kings  of  Judah. 


242  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA  [Oh. 

on  the  coast  lie  identities  with  Gath  of  the  Philistines ; 
Haifa,  the  ancient  Ephah,  with  Gath  Hachepher ;  St.  George 
with  Luz  ;  Tebnin,  near  Tiberias,  with  Thimnatha  in  Judaea  ; 
and  Capernaum  with  Kephar  Thanchum,  as  well  as  with 
Meon,  the  abode  of  Nabal  the  Carmelite.  This  last  con- 
fusion, arising  from  the  two  Carmels,  is  found  in  many  other 
writers ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  Benjamin's  tale  of 
the  Salt  Pillar  of  Lot's  wife — '  incessantly  licked  by  sheep, 
it  always  grows  again,  and  remains  as  large  as  ever' — a 
method  of  treatment  which  we  have  already  had  in  the 
sixth-century  pilgrim,  Antoninus  Martyr. 

With  all  this  we  are  fortunately  able  to  contrast  many 
excellent  and  reliable  descriptions  and  references ;  thus  an 
admirable  account  is  here  given  of  the  Samaritans  of  Gerizim, 
of  the  Patriarchal  Tombs  at  Hebron,  and  of  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  as  well  as  of  the  cities  of  Acre 
and  New  Tyre.  The  last-named,  a  beautiful  town,  with  an 
unrivalled  port,  was  still  famous  for  its  glass  and  purple 
dye ; 1  both  of  these  manufactures  were  largely  in  the  hands 
of  Jews,  who,  moreover,  possessed  a  great  ship-owning 
interest.  The  harbour  was  guarded  by  two  towers,  and 
a  chain  drawn  across  the  entrance  of  the  haven  every 
night ;  from  the  walls  of  the  city  the  curious  might  see 
the  remains  of  the  ancient  or  Crowning  Tyre,  '  whose 
merchants  were  princes  and  whose  traffickers  the  honourable 
of  the  earth,' 2  but  which  now  lay,  with  all  its  towers, 
markets,  streets,  and  halls,  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  Acre, 
the  frontier  town  of  Palestine,  was  the  place  where  most 
pilgrims  disembarked — at  least,  of  those  who  took  the 
maritime  routes.  When  Benjamin  visited  the  country,  it 
was  still  in  Christian  hands,  and  was  rightly  considered  the 

1  Cf.  Edrisi,  i.  349.  2  Isaiah  xxiii.  8, 


IV.]         TYRE,  HEBRON,  NABLUS,  ETC.         243 

key  of  the  Syrian  coast  and   the  most  capacious   and   con- 
venient of  Syrian  harbours. 

But  it  is  perhaps  at  Hebron  that  the  author's  Palestine 
narrative  is  most  valuable.  He  carefully  distinguishes 
between  the  old  town  on  the  hill,  long  since  ruined,  and 
the  newer  city  in  the  held  of  Machpelah.  Here  was  the 
Church  of  St.  Abraham,  which,  under  the  Mohammedan 
rule,  had  been  a  synagogue  (or  mosque);  and  in  this 
building  supposititious  tombs  of  the  patriarchs  had  been 
erected.  But  if  an  additional  fee  were  given  to  the  keeper 
of  the  cave,  the  real  graves  might  be  seen  ;  an  iron  door 
opened,  which  itself  dated  from  the  time  of  the  Hebrew 
forefathers  ;  and,  with  a  burning  candle  in  his  hand,  the 
visitor  could  descend  into  a  first  and  second  cave,  neither 
of  which  held  anything,  and  so  arrive  at  the  third,  where 
the  genuine  tombs  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  and  their 
wives  lay  beneath  an  ever-burning  lamp.  All  around  were 
tubs  or  casks  full  of  the  bones  of  Jews  who  had  been  laid 
to  rest  in  this  most  holy  place,  which  (outside  Jerusalem) 
had  but  one  rival,  Nablus  ]  and  Mount  Gerizim.  This  also 
was  visited  by  Benjamin  ;  but  here  he  found  no  Jews  and 
only  a  hundred  Samaritans,  observers  of  the  Mosaic  rite, 
pure  and  simple,  and  called  Cutheans.  Among  their 
priests  were  descendants  of  Aaron  ;  the  whole  people 
claimed  to  be  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim  ;  and  they  possessed 
the  bones  of  Joseph.  Tn  their  synagogue  on  Mount  Gerizim 
they  offered  sacrifices  and  burnt-offerings,  and  this,  they 
pretended,  was  the  Holy  Temple,  where  sacrifices  alone 
might  be  offered.  But  in  spite  of  their  unquestionable 
advantages,  they  were  not  full  or  true  Hebrews ;  three  of 
the  letters  of  the  alphabet  were  wanting  in  their  pronuncia- 

1  Benjamin     accurately     identifies    I  just  one  of  the  points  where  a  Jew 
NaMiis    and    Shechem,    this    being    |    would  go  right ;  cf.  Edrisi,  i.  339, 


244 


BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA 


[Ch. 


tion ;  and  from  the  lack  of  one  their  glory  was  taken  away, 
from  the  absence  of  the  second  they  were  denied  the  gift 
of  piety,  and  from  the  loss  of  the  third  it  followed  that 
they  had  no  humility.  All  their  ceremonial  care  against 
defilement,  their  changes  of  garments  and  frequent  washings, 
did  not  avail  them. 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  the  Records  notice 
a  pretended  sepulchre  of  Samuel,  apparently  forgetting  the 
plain  statement  of  the  Old  Testament ;  loosely  assume 
Paneas  or  Belinas  to  be  the  ancient  Dan  ;  and,  though  not 
giving  the  ordinary  tradition  of  the  fountains  Jor  and 
Dan,  only  substitute  another  legend  of  more  elaborate  in- 
accuracy. The  Jordan,  according  to  this  story,  issued  from 
a  cave ;  three  miles  beyond,  the  sacred  river  united  its 
waters  with  that  of  the  Mocibite  Arnon  j  in  front  of  the 
cave  were  vestiges  of  the  image  and  altar  of  Mikha,  an  idol 
of  the  children  of  Dan  ;  while  close  by  was  the  site  of  Jero- 
boam's shrine  of  the  Golden  Calf,  at  the  northern  confines 
of  Israel,  towards  the  '  uttermost  sea.' l  So  much,  for  legend. 
With  this  Benjamin,  after  his  manner,  proceeds  to  mingle 
some  other  and  more  useful,  because  contemporary,  notices. 

In  Tiberias  there  lived  a  Jewish  astrologer  or  astronomer 
named  Abraham,  a  typical  figure  in  an  age  when  learned 
Hebrews  so  often  acted  as  scientific  advisers  to  the  great  men 
of  the  earth,  Alfonso  X.  of  Castile,  Sultan  Seif-ed-din  of  Mosul,2 
the  early  Caliphs,  or  the  French  kings  of  the  twelfth  century. 
Benjamin  of  Tudela  differs  widely  from  Petachia  of 
Eatisbon  in  his  reckoning  of  'two  hundred'  Jews  as  re- 
sident   in    the    Holy    City  ;    and    remembering    that    the 


1  The  Mediterranean,  as  in  Dent. 
xi.  2-4,  which  Benjamin  is  probably 
quoting. 

-  His  Hebrew  astronomer  was 
named  Joseph  ;  cf.  also  Salomon  of 


Mesopotamia  in  the  ninth  (?)  cen- 
tury, at  Nineveh  ;  R.  Isaac,  son  of 
Baruch,  a.d.  1080;  and  another  R. 
Isaac,  who  nourished  in  France,  c. 
1150.     See  Asher,  Benjamin,  ii.  104. 


IV.]  OTHER    PLACES    IN    PALESTINE  245 

Crusaders  killed  most  of  '  Christ's  enemies '  when  they 
took  Jerusalem  in  1099,  and  barred  it  against  those  enemies 
as  long  and  as  much  as  possible,  the  estimate  of  '  one ' 
Hebrew,  given  by  the  German  visitor,  is  certainly  more 
plausible.  But  there  is  a  striking  agreement  between  the 
present  Records  and  other  writings  of  this  time,  on  the 
question  of  the  fertility  of  Judaea ;  near  Bethlehem  the 
country  then  abounded  with  rivulets,  wells,  and  springs  ; 
and  only  a  land  of  considerable  resources  could  have  sus- 
tained the  numerous  Christian  garrisons  which  were  camped 
upon  its  soil.  One  of  these  fortresses,  to  which  is  signifi- 
cantly given  the  Spanish  name  of  Toron  de  los  Cabatteros, 
and  which  is  placed  at  Shunem,  was  probably  that  now 
called  the  Frank  Mountain,  to  the  south-east  of  the  birth- 
place of  Jesus  ;  another  was  at  Tbelin  (the  '  Yabneh  of 
Antiquity '),  where  the  great  Crusading  house  of  Balian  had 
their  home,  and  from  whence  they  controlled  their  fiefs  of 
Jaffa  and  Ascalon. 

It  is  curious  that  our  Records,  which  aim  at  preserving  a 
memorial  even  of  the  smallest  Jewish  communities,  and 
which  mention  the  obscure  and  decayed  Ashdod  or  Palmis, 
o  rarely  noticed  in  the  Middle  Ages,  are  wholly  silent  as  to 
Safed,  near  the  Lake  of  Chinnereth  or  Merom.  For  here 
was  the  principal  Hebrew  settlement  in  Palestine ;  here  in 
later  time,  and  probably  at  the  era  of  Benjamin's  visit,  was 
a  university  ;  and  near  here  the  traveller  must  have  passed,  if 
we  may  judge  from  his  description  of  Merom  or  Maron,  and 
its  cave,  with  the  sepulchres  of  Hillel,  Shammai,  and  other 
noted  teachers — a  place  of  Israelitish  pilgrimage  within  sight 
of  the  '  City  set  on  a  hill' l 

Damascus,  lately  seized  by  Sultan  Nur-ed-din,  '  King  of 
the  Turks,'  son  and  successor  of  Zenghi  the  old  Atabeg 
1  I.e.  Safed.  which  Petachia  also  omits,  cf.  Asher,  Benjamin,  ii.  107-S. 


246  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA  [Ch. 

of  Mosul,  and  head  of  the  Western  branch  of  the  Seljuk 
race,  was  admired  by  the  Hebrew  wayfarer  in  common 
with  almost  every  visitor  and  in  nearly  the  same  language. 
Its  surroundings,  within  a  circuit  of  fifteen  miles,  presented 
gardens  and  orchards  unequalled  in  the  world  ;  so  Moslems 
termed  the  Ghutah  of  Damascus,  along  with  Samarcand  and 
the  neighbourhood  of  Basrah  or  Bassora,  one  of  the  three 
earthly  Paradises.  All  this  beauty  was  the  result  of  careful 
irrigation ;  for  the  waters  of  the  Abana  and  Pharpar 
(the  Amana  and  Parpar  of  Benjamin)  flowing  from  Mount 
Hermon,  on  which  the  city  leant,  were  carried  in  pipes 
through  the  streets,  markets,  and  houses  of  the  oasis. 

A  great  trade  was  maintained  here  between  merchants  of 
all  countries  ;  among  these  were  numbered  three  thousand 
Jews,  two  hundred  Karaites,  and  four  hundred  Samaritans ; 
here  was  also  a  seat  of  Hebrew  learning,  perhaps  a  survival 
from  the  days  when  the  Ommeyad  Caliphs  reigned  at 
Damascus,  and  impartially  encouraged  every  kind  of 
science,  even  when  professed  by  Christian  or  Rabbinical 
doctors.  The  most  notable  of  their  buildings,  the  great 
mosque  or  '  synagogue '  of  Walid,  is  described  with  curious 
awe  and  wonder  by  the  traveller.  It  was  formerly  the 
palace  of  Ben-Hadad,  as  men  said,  and  one  of  its  walls  was 
framed  of  glass,  constructed  by  enchantment,  and  provided 
with  as  many  openings  as  there  were  days  in  the  year.  Into 
these  the  sun  threw  its  light  in  regular  succession,  and  as 
each  of  the  openings  was  divided  into  twelve  degrees,  ac- 
cording to  the  hours  of  the  day,  even  the  lesser  parts  of 
time  could  be  known.  It  is  singular  that  Benjamin  should 
speak  with  bated  breath  of  a  building  in  glass  which  was 
only  the  most  splendid  of  many  similar  works  in  Moslem 
countries  or  in  China  ;  but  he  came,  not  from  the  highly 
civilised   Spain  of  Andalusia,  but   from   the  upland  of  the 


IV. J  DAMASCUS,    BAALBEK,    ETC.  247 

Pyrenaean  region,  where  such  refinements  were  unknown, 
or  known  merely  as  the  triumphs  of  wizardry. 

In  Damascus,  moreover,  lived  the  President  of  the 
University  of  Palestine ;  until  the  Crusades  this  seat  of 
learning  had  been  (for  some  time)  in  Jerusalem  ;  the  Frank 
conquest  extinguished  it ;  but  in  Benjamin's  day  it  was 
revived  in  a  new  home.  On  this  point  the  Records  are  con- 
firmed by  Moses  Maimonides :  and  by  Petachia,  who  also 
agree  in  the  statement  that  the  presiding  teachers  of  Syrian 
Judaism  were  nominated  by  the  Prince  of  the  Captivity  at 
Bagdad. 

Half  a  day's  journey  from  Damascus  brought  the  author 
to  Baalbek,  not  often  visited  or  mentioned  by  mediaeval 
travellers,  and  identified  in  one  Hebrew  tradition  (here  re- 
produced) with  Baalath  in  the  Valley  of  Lebanon,  built  by 
Solomon  for  Pharaoh's  daughter.  The  stones  of  this 
'  palace '  were  of  enormous  size,  Benjamin  truly  remarks  ; 
some  measured  twenty  spans  by  twelve ;  no  binding 
material  held  them  together ;  and  the  whole  thing  was  so 
marvellous  that  some  believed  it  could  only  have  been 
erected  with  the  help  of  Asmodai.  Tadmor  in  the  desert, 
the  classical  Palmyra,  was  also  built  by  Solomon  with 
equally  gigantic  stones  ;  it  was  walled,  and  contained  two 
thousand  warlike  Jews,  living  far  from  any  other  habitation, 
and  engaged  in  constant  hostilities  with  the  Christians  of 
Northern  Syria  and  with  the  subjects  of  Nur-ed-din. 

It  is  not  clear  how  the  author  made  his  way  onwards 
from  Damascus  to  Aleppo  and  the  Euphrates ;  for,  though 
he  mentions  Tadmor,  Hamath  on  the  Orontes,  Hazor,  and 
Bales  or  Pethor  on  the  Euphrates  at  the  edge  of  the  desert, 
it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  he  passed  through  all  these 
places  ;  his  statements  of  distance  are  very  loose,  and  the 

'   Commentary  on  the  Mishna,  A.D.  1167. 


248  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA  [Ch. 

order  of  the  localities  mentioned  is  not  always  that  of  a 
possible  itinerary  ;  but  of  course  the  lapse  of  time  and  the 
confusion  of  his  notes  may  account  for  many  inaccuracies. 
He  alludes  to  an  earthquake  which  had  recently  laid 
Hamath  in  ruins  (a.d.  1157);  and  at  Bales  or  Barbarissus 
he  records  the  tradition  of  Balaam's  Tower  ( '  may  the  name 
of  the  wicked  rot ' ),  which  the  enemy  of  Israel  built  '  in 
accordance  with  the  hours  of  the  day.'  In  Aleppo  he 
dwells  on  the  scarcity  of  water,  whereas  Edrisi1  praises  it 
for  the  abundance  of  its  supply  ;  all  the  Arabic  authorities, 
however,  agree  with  Benjamin  that  this  town  was  the 
residence  of  ISTur-ed-din,  and  strongly  fortified  by  him  (1149- 
1173).  On  the  whole,  it  seems  probable  that  the  Eabbi 
struck  the  Euphrates  at  Barbarissus  and  followed  the  course 
of  the  great  river  through  Davana  or  Kalat  Jiaber  (the  '  fort 
Jiaber '  of  the  Crusaders),2  to  Bakka ;  then,  drawn  aside  like 
Marco  Polo  by  the  commercial  renown  of  Mosul,  we  may 
suppose  that  he  proceeded  due  east  from  the  borders  of 
Mesopotamia  through  Nisibis,  by  a  route  sometimes  ascribed 
to  Alexander  the  Great.  Jiaber,  he  tells  us,  had  been  re- 
tained by  the  Arabs  when  the  Turkish  invasions  swept  over 
this  country,  and  dispersed  the  children  of  the  desert  in 
their  ancient  wastes  ;  Bakka,  the  Callinicum  of  the  Greeks, 
the  scene  of  Al  Bateni's  astronomical  observations  (c.  900)  in 
an  old  palace  of  Harun-al-Bashid,  was  also  on  the  frontier 
of  the  Thogarmim,3  and  rejoiced  in  a  colony  of  seven 
hundred  Jews  and  a  synagogue  built  by  Ezra  the  scribe, 
'  when  he  returned  from  Jerusalem  to  Babylon.'  Another  of 
Ezra's  buildings  was  at  Charrhae  or  Haran,  the  place  of  the 
defeat  of  Crassus  and  the  call  of  Abraham  ;  this  spot  was 


1  Edrisi,  ii.  136. 

2  Thirty-five  miles  below  Bir  or 
Birrah,  an  important  river  station, 
where  the  Euphrates  proper  began, 


according  to  one  view. 

s  The  Turks,  cf.  Lebrecht  in  Asher, 
Benjamin,  ii.  318-392. 


IV.]  MESOPOTAMIA,    MOSUL,    ETC.  249 

reverenced  '  even  '  by  Moslems,  who  suffered  no  one  to  erect 
anything  where  tradition  placed  the  House  of  the  Common 
Forefather,  that  '  true  Moslem,'  '  sound  in  faith,'  preacher 
of  the  Divine  Unity,  and  teacher  of  the  Resurrection,  who, 
according  to  Arabic  belief,  was  himself  (with  Ishmael)  the 
builder  of  the  Kaaba  at  Mecca,  and  specially  called  to  be  an 
Imam  or  Minister  of  God  to  all  mankind.1 

A  third  synagogue,  ascribed  to  Ezra,  is  noticed  by 
Benjamin  at  or  near  Bezebde,  or  Jezirah  ben  Omar,  an 
island  in  the  Tigris,  and  a  famous  market  for  the  trade 
between  Mosul  and  Armenia,  where  the  Rabbi  locates  a 
mosque  of  Omar  constructed  from  the  Ark  of  Noah.  Four 
miles  from  the  river  at  this  place  was  the  Mount  Ararat 
on  which  the  Ark  had  rested;  thus  the  'Sublime  Mountain' 
is  calmly  transferred  from  the  other  side  of  Kurdistan.  In 
the  same  confused  manner  Benjamin  alludes  to  the  great 
Hebrew  academy  at  Pumbeditha  in  Nehardea,  which  he 
identifies  with  El  Jubar  on  the  Euphrates  as  the  centre 
of  a  large  colony  of  Jews  and  the  home  of  many  eminent 
scholars. 

From  Haran  the  narrative  brings,  us  to  Nisibis,  a  '  large 
city  plentifully  watered,'  and  celebrated  for  the  long 
struggles  waged  over  it  by  Rome  and  Persia  ;  here  was  a 
considerable  settlement 2  of  Jews  ;  and  from  this  meeting-place 
of  commercial  and  military  highways  we  move  onward  to  the 
Tigris,  reaching  the  Arrowy  Stream  a  little  north  of 
Mosul.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  the  '  Muslin '  town,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river,  and  united  by  a  bridge  with  the 

1  For  these  titles  of  Abraham,  as       Family  of  Imran,  verses  60,  89;  vi., 


given  in  the  Koran,  and  all  the 
other  details  of  the  Moslem  view, 
cf.  chs.  ii.,  The  Cow,  verses  118-128, 
130.  134,  260,  262;  also  lxxxvii., 
The  Most  High,   verse  19  ;  iii.,    The. 


Cattle,  verses  74-84,  162;  xvi.,    The 
Bee,  verse   121 ;    xxix.,    The  Spider, 
verses    15-30  ;    xliii.,    Ornaments    of 
Gold,  verses  25-27. 
-  One  thousand. 


250  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA  [Ch. 

mediaeval  city,  was  Nineveh,  the  true  Asshur  of  the  Old 
Testament,  though  Benjamin  transfers  this  name  to  the  site 
of  Mosul.  The  Assyrian  capital  lay  in  ruins,  but  its  site 
was  covered  with  small  towns  and  villages:  hereabouts  were 
no  fewer  than  seven  thousand  Jews,  and  among  them  a 
prince  of  the  House  of  David  and  a  certain  Rabbi  Joseph, 
the  court-astronomer  of  Seif-ed-din,  brother  of  Nur-ed-din  of 
Damascus. 

Benjamin  was  now  on  the  '  confines  of  Persia,'  but  he 
stops  here  to  mention  Carchemish  on  the  Euphrates,  Eeho- 
both  on  the  same  river,  and  a  number  of  towns  and  Hebrew 
sepulchres  of  note  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Pumbeditha, 
before  commencing  his  minute  and  interesting  account  of 
Bagdad,  the  '  metropolis  of  the  Emir-al-Mumemin  al  Abassi,' 
or  Abbasside  Caliph.  This  potentate,  acknowledged  by  all 
Saracenic  kings,  and  holding  a  dignity  over  them  just  as  the 
Pope  of  Pome  enjoyed  over  the  Christians,  was  very 
friendly  towards  the  Jews,  and  many  of  his  officers 
were  of  that  nation ;  he  understood  all  languages,  was 
versed  in  the  law  of  Moses,  and  read  and  wrote  the 
Hebrew  tongue.  He  enjoyed  nothing  but  what  he  earned 
by  the  labour  of  his  own  hands ;  and  therefore  manu- 
factured coverlets  which  he  stamped  with  his  seal,  and 
which  his  officers  sold  in  the  public  market ;  these  articles 
were  bought  by  the  nobles  of  the  land,  and  from  their  pro- 
duce his  necessaries  were  provided.  His  character  was 
that  of  a  trustworthy  and  kind-hearted  man,  but  he  was 
generally  invisible.  Pilgrims  who  came  to  Bagdad  from 
distant  lands,  on  their  way  to  Mecca,  often  asked  to  see 
the  '  brightness  of  his  face,'  but  were  only  allowed  to  behold 
and  kiss  one  end  of  his  garment.  All  the  brothers  and 
relatives  of  the  Caliph  were  then  confined  within  their 
palaces  and  chained  in  iron,  because   of  a  recent  rebellion. 


IV.  1  DESCRIPTION    OF    BAGDAD  251 

Only  once  a  year  did  the  Caliph  leave  his  palace,  at  the 
Feast  of  Ramadan,  when  he  was  escorted  by  princes  of 
Arabia,  Persia,  and  even  of  Tibet,  a  land  distant  three 
months'  journey  from  Arabia.  The  reigning  Pontiff',  among 
other  building's,  had  erected  houses,  streets,  and  hostelries 
for  the  sick  poor,  and  sixty  medical  warehouses  were  pro- 
vided with  spices  and  other  necessaries  from  his  stores.  Out 
of  pure  charity  he  had  also  arranged  for  the  confinement 
and  chaining  in  irons  of  all  the  insane,  who  were  par- 
ticularly numerous  during  the  hot  season. 

The  '  Prince  of  the  Captivity '  (as  the  Jews  called  him), 
the  '  noble  descendant  of  David '  (in  the  Moslem  phrase),  was 
treated  with  great  honour.  All  the  Caliph's  subjects  had 
to  rise  in  his  presence  and  salute  him  with  respect,  under  a 
penalty  of  a  hundred  stripes.  On  his  visits  to  the  sovereign 
he  was  escorted  by  horsemen  who  cleared  the  road,  himself 
also  riding  on  the  noble  animal  so  often  forbidden  to  the 
Jews,  and  wearing  a  turban  on  his  head  covered  with  a 
white  silk  cloth  and  surmounted  by  a  diadem.  His 
authority  is  defined  by  our  traveller  as  extending  over 
Syria,  Mesopotamia,  Persia,  Khorasan,  Sheba,  '  which  is 
Yemen,'  Diarbekr,  Armenia,  the  Land  of  Kota  near  Mount 
Ararat,  and  the  Land  of  the  Alans,  which  was  shut  in 
by  mountains,  and  had  no  outlet  except  by  the  iron  gates 
made  by  Alexander.  Nor  was  this  all.  His  sway  was 
also  acknowledged  by  the  Jews  in  Sikbia  and  the  pro- 
vinces of  the  Turkomans,  as  far  as  the  'Aspisian'  Moun- 
tains ;  in  the  country  of  the  Georgians  '  unto  the  river 
Oxus  (these  are  the  Girgasim  of  Scripture  and  believe  in 
Christianity) '  ;  and  even  in  Tibet  and  India.  This  Jewish 
High  Priest  also  possessed  hostelries,  gardens,  and  orchards 
in  Babylonia,  and  extensive  landed  property.  His 
'  cathedral,'  the  '  metropolitan    synagogue,'   was  ornamented 


252  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA  [Oh. 

with  pillars  of  rich  marble,  plated  with  gold  and  silver ;  it 
was  but  one  of  twenty-eight  prayer-houses  in  the  city  of 
Bagdad,  which  also  contained  ten  Hebrew  colleges,  but  only 
one  thousand  Jews. 

So  much  for  the  leading  personages  of  Bagdad.  Coming 
to  other  and  lesser  matters,  Babbi  Benjamin  has  to  tell  us 
of  the  Hebrew  professors  and  doctors  of  the  city,  and  of 
the  Caliph's  palace  and  park,  three  miles  in  extent,  filled 
with  all  kinds  of  beasts  and  trees,  and  containing  a  pond  or 
lake  supplied  with  water  from  the  Tigris.  He  also  dilates 
upon  the  palm-trees,  gardens,  and  orchards,  the  philosophy, 
science,  and  magic  of  the  Mohammedan  capital,  as  well  as 
upon  the  trade,  flowing  in  from  all  countries,  which  made 
it  the  equal,  and  more  than  the  equal,  of  Constantinople. 
We  cannot  but  suspect  an  error  in  the  traveller's  figures, 
when,  after  all  this-  exposition  of  the  glories  of  an  un- 
paralleled '  metropolis,'  he  assigns  a  space  of  three  miles  as 
the  circuit  of  the  same,  and  puts  the  number  of  its 
Hebrew  citizens  at  a  bare  seventieth  of  the  Jewish 
Community  at  Kufa.  It  has  already  been  noticed  that 
Benjamin's  visit  was  probably  in  or  about  the  year  of  Christ, 
1164,  in  the  reign  of  Mostanieh-abul-Modhaffer,  when 
Bagdad  had  to  a  great  extent  recovered  from  its  political 
decay,  and  stood  as  high  as  ever  in  social  and  commercial 
importance.  A  century  was  yet  to  elapse  before  ruin  came 
upon  it  with  the  descent  of  the  Mongols  (1258) ;  and  in  the 
middle  of  the  Crusading  age  it  may  well  have  contained 
half  a  million  of  human  beings,  a  larger  populace  than  could 
be  found  in  any  city  of  Europe. 

After  Bagdad,  as  all  careful  readers  have  noticed, 
Benjamin's  narrative  takes  a  different  character.  It  is  no 
longer,  for  the  most  part,  a  record  of  personal  travel ;  it  is 
rather  an  attempt  to  supplement  the  first  part  '  of   tilings 


rV.]  LEGENDS    IN    BENJAMIN  253 

seen,'  by  a  second,  l  of  things  heard.'  The  writer  now 
hastily  surveys  the  world  from  China  to  Bagdad,  and  con- 
cludes with  a  few  particulars  about  lands  to  the  far  south 
or  north,  like  Arabia  or  Germany,  as  to  which  we  cannot 
always  assume  any  personal  experience  on  his  part. 

This  second  portion  of  Benjamin's  work,  abounding  in 
fables  and  pleasant  stories,  is  not  so  characteristic  as  the 
former.  For  the  compiler  is  more  truly  a  representative,  not 
of  the  geographical  mythology  of  the  twelfth  century,  but  of 
the  historical  and  scientific  spirit  of  observation  and  enquiry 
which  was  slowly  gaining  upon  the  legendary  temper  of  mind  ; 
and  it  will  be  enough  to  pass  very  briefly  over  the  conces- 
sions here  made  to  romance,  noticing,  however,  the  not  infre- 
quent passages  where  the  author  reverts  to  matter  of  fact. 

Babel  or  Babylon,  a  mass  of  ruins  extending  over  thirty 
miles,  and  containing  the  furnace  of  the  three  children, 
the  tower1  of  the  dispersed  generation,  and  the  palace  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  is  described,  in  the  manner  of  sixth-century 
pilgrims,  as  unapproachable  on  account  of  the  scorpions  and 
serpents  that  infested  the  site.  Various  wild  stories  follow,  not 
without  some  foundation  in  a  long-past  history,  but  tricked 
out  with  almost  Mandevillian  extravagance,  on  the  Hebrews 
of  Southern  Arabia,  who  were  Bechabites,  and  lived  twenty- 
one  clays'  journey  through  the  desert  of  '  Yemen  or  Sheba.' 
These  rigid  Talmudists  were  a  terror  to  their  neighbours ; 
they  fasted  all  their  lives  except  on  Sabbaths  and  Holy 
days  ;  and  they  were  always  dressed  in  black.  Their  capital 
was  at  the  large  city  of  Thema  or  Tehama ;  and  their 
country  extended  sixteen  days'  journey  towards  the  northern 
mountain  range.  Still  more  incredible  particulars  are  re- 
lated   of    various    other    tribes  of  independent   and  warlike 

1  Probably  the  Birs  Nimrtid.    Twenty  thousand  (0  Jews  lived  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Babel,  according  to  Benjamin  ;  of.  Asher,  ii.  139-HO, 


254 


BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA 


[Ch. 


Israelites  in  the  heart  of  the  sacred  land  of  Islam,  for- 
bidden to  (and  guarded  against)  all  but  Moslems  since  the 
days  of  the  Prophet.  At  Telmas  were  100,000  similar, 
though  not  as  perfect,  Eechabites  ;  in  the  notorious  Chaibar 
(so  long  the  obstacle  to  Mohammed's  progress  and  the  chief 
cause  of  his  later  hostility  to  Judaism),  were  50,000  more  ; 
while  in  Thanaejm  no  less  than  300,000  Hebrews  lived  in  a 
town  fifteen  square  miles  in  area.  Uninhabited  deserts 
separated  these  people  from  their  neighbours. 

In  Khuzistan  or  Elam,  Benjamin  is  mostly  occupied  with 
the  tomb  of  Daniel  at  Susa, — just  as  at  Napacha,  near 
Babylon,  he  gives  many  details  of  the  synagogue  and 
sepulchre  of  Ezekiel.  As  usual,  Moslems  vied  with  Jews 
in  paying  honour  to  the  ancient  prophets  of  Israel.  Noble 
Mohammedans  resorted  to  Napacha  to  pray  at  Ezekiel's 
tomb,1  which  no  one  dared  plunder  or  profane,  even  in 
time  of  war;  here  also  Arabian  merchants  were  to  be  found 
mingled  with  Hebrews,  at  the  Festivals  of  the  New  Year  and 
Atonement,  when  devotions  were  accompanied  by  trade,  and 
the  best  was  made  of  both  worlds.  The  library  attached  to 
Ezekiel's  shrine  at  this  place,  containing  some  manuscripts 
coeval  with  the  first  temple ;  the  lamp  that  burnt  day  and 
night  upon  his  grave,  and  had  never  been  extinguished 
since  the  son  of  Buzi  lighted  it  himself  ;  and  the  neighbouring 
tombs  of  Ananias,  Azarias,  and  Misael, — were  all  treated  with 
profound  respect  by  the  Unitarians  of  the  Later  Eevelation, 
who  honoured  this  holy  spot  with  the  surprising  title  of 
an  '  agreeable  abode.' 

Likewise   at    Susa    Jewish    gratitude    remembered    the 


1  Near  Napacha,  which  perhaps  is 
the  Nachaba  of  Ptolemy.  Benjamin 
also  notices  the  tomb  of  Nahum  at 
Ain  Japhata,   perhaps  the  site  near 


Elkoth,  East  of  the  Tigris,  where 
Col.  Shiel  was  shown  the  sepulchre 
of  the  Prophet.  {Journal  of  the 
Geographical  Society,  viii.  93). 


IT,]  JEWS    OF    PERSIA    AND    MIDDLE    ASIA  255 

honour  lately  paid  to  the  sepulchre  of  Daniel  by  the  leading 
Seljuk  prince  and  '  Supreme  Commander  of  Persia,'  Sultan 
Sanjar  Shah-ben-Shah,  whose  rule  stretched  from  the  Persian 
Gulf  to  Samarcand  and  even  Tibet — a  four  months'  journey, 
with  the  Shatt-el-Arab  at  one  end,  and  at  the  other  the  moun- 
tains and  forests  where  the  musk-producing  deer  was  found. 

When  this  great  Emperor  once  visited  Shushan,  he  ordered 
the  coffin  of  Daniel  the  prophet,  enclosed  in  an  outer  shell  of 
glass,  to  be  hung  from  the  middle  of  the  bridge  over  the 
'River  of  Susa'  by  chains  of  iron:  and  so  it  remained  in 
the  time  of  Rabbi  Benjamin.  For  the  greater  honour  of  the 
illustrious  dead,  no  one  was  suffered  to  fish  in  the  river  over 
a  space  of  one  mile  on  each  side  of  the  coffin. 

From  Shushan,  whose  exact  position  is  still  matter  of 
controversy,  Benjamin  proceeds  (in  his  enumeration  of 
localities,  if  not  in  any  real  itinerary  of  his  own)  to  the 
River  Holwan  and  the  district  of  Mulehet  (near  the  south 
coast  of  the  Caspian),  possessed  by  a  sect  who  did  not  believe 
in  Islam,  but  lived  on  the  summit  of  high  mountains,  pay- 
ing obedience  only  to  the  Old  Man  in  the  land  of  the 
Assassins  (of  Lebanon).  These  mountains  are  evidently 
grouped  by  the  Rabbi  with  the  range  of  Khaphton  or 
Zagros,  in  which  were  scattered  more  than  a  hundred 
congregations  of  dispersed  Jews,  descendants  of  the  captives 
of  Shalmaneser,  like  the  Hebrews  of  Arabia  already  noticed. 
In  connection  with  the  Jews  of  Amaria  (reckoned  among  the 
congregations  of  Mount  Khaphton)  the  Records  here  insert 
the  long  and  wonderful  story  of  David-el-roy,  a  pseudo- 
Messiah,  whose  feats  of  magic  were  performed  through  a 
knowledge  of  the  Secret  or  Unrevealed  Name  of  God.  Armed 
with  this  mystery,  it  was  easy  for  him  to  cross  rivers  on  his 
outspread  shawl,  and  to  appear  and  disappear  at  will. 

At  Hamadan  or  Ecbatana   Benjamin  notices  the  tombs 


256 


BENJAMIN  OF  TUDELA 


[Oh. 


of  Mordecai  and  Esther ;  at  Ispahan  was  the  royal  seat  of 
Persia  ;  at  Shushan  the  palace  of  Ahasuerus  and  tomb  of 
Daniel,  so  highly  honoured  by  the  greatest  of  the  Seljuk 
Princes.1  Then,  from  Shiraz  or  Fars,  near  the  Persian  Gulf, 
seven  clays'  journey  only  would  conduct  the  traveller  to 
'  Giva '  on  the  Oxus,  close  to  the  northern  frontier  of 
Sultan  Sanjar ;  the  distance  is  but  a  wild  guess ;  yet, 
however  the  route  may  be  shortened  in  the  Rabbi's  figures, 
all  that  he  says  about  Khiva,  its  extensive  market,  its 
traders  of  all  lands  and  tongues,  and  its  flat  surroundings, 
is  plausible  enough.  The  fifty  thousand  Jews  of  Samarcand 
seem  more  open  to  question ;  but  the  future  capital  of  Timur, 
before  the  advent  of  the  Mongols,  must  have  contained  a 
great  populace,  if  we  are  to  put  any  faith  at  all  in  the  Arab 
geographers    and    historians    who    from    the    days    of    Ibn 


1  The  position  of  the  ruins  of  Susa 
or  Shushan  has  been  much  disputed, 
but  it  may  now  be  fixed  at  (a)  Susan, 
35  Kil.  35  of  Dizful  in  Khuzistan, 
close  to  the  intersection  of  N.  Lat.  32, 
E.  Long.  48,  rather  than  at  (j3) 
Sinister  on  the  River  Karun.  The 
tradition  of  the  tomb  of  David  is 
very  old ;  it  is  to  be  found,  e.g.  in 
Aasim  of  Kufa  (c.  A.D.  735).  As  to 
various  minor  localities  of  Persia  re- 
ferred to  in  Benjamin,  it  may  be 
noticed  here,  e.g.  that  the  Rabbi's 
notes  on  the  River  Samarra  and  the 
sepulchre  of  Ezra  show  how  the  land, 
especially  in  the  Shatt-el-Arab,  must 
have  considerably  altered.  Perhaps 
even  as  late  as  the  twelfth  century  the 
Tigris  had  a  separate  channel  to  the 
Gulf.  For  Benjamin's  City  of  Da- 
baristan  or  Tabaristan  (cf.  Edrisi,  ii. 
180),  Asher,  ii.  168,  suggests  Faraha- 
bad,  the  capital  of  Tabaristan 
province.  The  Rabbi's  '  Sura, '  to  the 
north  of  Bagdad,  was  foreight  hundred 


years  the  seat  of  a  famous  Hebrew 
University ;  his  '  mountains  of 
Kazvin '  are  probably  the  Elburz  range 
(Damavand,  etc.) ;  his  '  Amaria'  was 
perhaps  in  the  Holwan  region,  be- 
tween Bagdad  and  Kazvin,  where 
Jewish  tradition  is  still  very  strong 
and  traces  of  Jewish  blood  very 
common.  The  Jews  of  Mulehet, 
according  to  Benjamin,  united  with 
the  Assassins  in  their  raids ;  yet 
they  obeyed  the  Prince  of  the 
Captivity  at  Bagdad,  —  a  curious 
inconsistency.  On  the  Rabbi's  '  land 
of  Kuth '  (or  Kotha)  in  North  Persia, 
cf.  2  Kings  xvii.  24-30  ;  Josephus, 
Antiquities,  ix.  14,  3.  On  Hillah  and 
Babel,  cf.  Edrisi,  ii.  160.  On  Mosul, 
cf.  Edrisi,  ii.  148  ;  Petachia,  171 
(Wagenseil).  On  Napacha  and  the 
tombs  of  Ezekiel  and  Nahum,  so 
carefully  described  by  Niebuhr,  cf. 
Petachia,  197  ("Wagenseil),  where 
many  details  are  added.  See  also 
Asher,  ii.,  130-2,  136-143.  155-162. 


IV.] 


PARTICULARS  OF  THE  FURTHER  EAST 


257 


Haukal  reserve  their  choicest  superlatives  for  the  Sogd. 
The  Hebrews  of  Northern  Persia,  as  we  have  seen,  some- 
times combined  with  the  Assassins ;  they  also  allied  them- 
selves on  occasion  with  the  '  Ghozzes,'  Oguz,  or  '  infidel ' 
Turks,1  who  adored  the  wind  and  lived  in  the  desert,  ate  no 
bread  or  cooked  meat,  but  endured  a  diet  of  raw  flesh,  and 
being  destitute  of  noses,  breathed  only  through  two  small 
holes.  These  monsters  had  invaded  Iran  'about  eighteen 
years  before ' ;  probably  Benjamin  here  refers  to  their  great 
triumph  over  Sanjar  (1153-1156),  when  so  many  cities,  from 
Merv  to  Eai,  fell  before  them. 

On  the  Persian  Gulf  a  considerable  trade  was  still 
maintained  from  Arabia,  Yemen,  India,  and  the  islands  of 
the  ocean,  but  there  is  no  mention  here,  as  in  some  earlier 
writers,  of  the  junks  of  China. 

Prom  the  island-mart  of  Kish,2  ten  days  brought  the 
voyager  to  a  famous  bed  of  pearls3  at  El  Katif,  and  seven 
more   landed   the  sailor   at   Khnlam4  in    Malabar,  on    the 


Cf.  Edrisi,  i.  181  ;  ii.  208-9.  The 
Ogouzesor  Oguz  in  the  twelfth  century 
moved  across  the  Oxus  to  the  east  of 
Balkh  ;  for  a  time  they  paid  tribute 
to  Sultan  Sanjar  ;  but  in  1153  they 
revolted,  and  in  1156  they  defeated 
and  captured  Sanjar,  after  a  reign  of 
twenty  years  in  Khorasan.  After  this 
the  Oguz  stormed  and  sacked  Merv, 
Nishapur,  and  many  other  places. 

2  Kish  (otherwise  Kaish,  Keis,  Qas 
Kiis,  or  Keish)  was  the  greatest  port 
of  the  Lower  Persian  Gulf,  between 
the  eleventh  and  the  fourteenth 
centuries  ;  its  prosperity  comes 
between  that  of  Siraf  and  Ormuz. 
Perhaps  it  is  the  Kataia  of  Nearchus' 
Journal ;  it  is  mentioned  by  M.  Polo  ; 
by  Edrisi  and  Abulfeda,  who  both  ap- 
parently copy  an  earlier  writer  ;  and 
by  Kazwini.     Cf.  Asher,  ii.  175-8. 


3  Edrisi,  i.  377,  gives  the  same 
account  as  Benjamin  of  the  origin  of 
pearls.  El  Katif  is  the  Kotaif  of 
Ibn  Batuta,  and  perhaps  corresponds 
to  the  ancient  Gerra.  Cf.  Edrisi,  i. 
371  ;  Asher,  ii.  178-9  ;  it  lay  on  the 
Arabian  shore  of  the  Persian  Gulf, 
and  had  an  important  trade. 

4  Otherwise  Coulam,  Culam,  Culan, 
Quilon,  etc  ;  Edrisi,  i.  176-7,  says 
the  King  of  Kulam  adored  Buddha 
— that  is,  at  the  end  of  the  eleventh 
century  or  beginning  of  the  twelfth. 
In  the  fourteenth  century  Ibn  Batuta 
vaguely  calls  the  same  potentate  an 
'infidel,'  but  perhaps  Benjamin's 
statement  may  refer  to  the  Parsis, 
who  had  lied  for  refuge  to  Malabar 
from  Moslem  persecution.  See 
Ouseley's  Travels,  vols.  i.  and  iii., 
and   K.    Bitter's    Erdkunde,  ii.    58  ; 


258  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA  [Cu. 

confines  of  the  Sun- Worshippers,  children  of  Kush,  all  black 
and  given  to  astrology,  but  trustworthy  in  trade.  Here  the 
heat  was  so  great  that  all  business  was  transacted  at  night. 
Secretaries  of  the  king  reported  upon  the  lading  of  every 
ship  ;  and  after  this  report  had  been  made,  goods  might  be 
left  about  anywhere.  If  any  articles  were  lost,  they  were 
almost  always  brought  to  one  of  the  royal  officers  specially 
appointed  to  receive  such  things.  Benjamin  describes  the 
black  and  white  pepper,1  the  cinnamon,  ginger,  and  other  spices 
of  this  land,  where  the  dead  were  not  buried  but  embalmed, 
and  he  reprobates  the  enchantments  of  the  people,  whereby 
the  images  of  the  sun  revolved  at  dawn  with  wondrous 
noise  : — '  this  their  way  is  their  folly.'  Far  beyond,  a  journey 
of  two-and-twenty  days,  lay  Khandy  or  Ceylon,2  inhabited 
by  adorers  of  fire,  among  whom  were  twenty-three  thousand 
Jews.  The  worship  of  these  necromancers,  their  suttee,  their 
Moloch-like  ritual,  and  what  some  have  thought  to  be  their 
doctrine  of  transmigration,  are,  perhaps,  the  grounds  on  which 
Benjamin  identifies  them  with  the  Druses  of  Syria.3 


v.  (i.)  594  ;  v.  615  ;  M.  Polo,  iii.  25  ; 
Barbosa,  223  (Quatremere's  Extracts), 
pp.  157,  172,  173,  of  Hakl.  Scc.'s 
edition  of  the  Description  of  East 
African  and  Malabar  Coasts. 

On  the  white  and  black  Jews  of  Mala- 
bar, reported  by  R.  Benjamin,  cf  Buch- 
anan, Christian  Researches;  Asher,  ii. 
183-5  ;  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  v.  595,  etc. 


of  Taprobane  and  Britain  ( De  Munch, 
ch.  iii.)  Benjamin's  remarks  on  the 
Jews  of  Ceylon  suggest  an  intercourse 
with  Bagdad,  via  Kish  —  a  mere 
trifle  to  the  intercourse  between  the 
Moslems  of  Ceylon  and  Spain. 

:;  Their  priests  were  unequalled  nec- 
romancers. In  their  houses  of 
prayer  were  ditches  in  which  large 


The  white  Jews  of  this  colony  claim  i  fires     burnt ;     through    these     they 

to  have  settled  in  Malabar  a.d.  231.     |  passed  their  children,  and  herein  they 

1  Noticed  by  every  subsequent  \  threw  their  dead.  The  great  of  this 
traveller  of  importance  in  these  i  land  sometimes  burnt  themselves 
regions,  especially  Ibn  Batuta.  For  !  alive,  all  applauding  and  saying,  '  Oh, 
'cinnamon'  some  read  'sugar-cane.'      I  happy  are  ye,   and  well  shall  it  be 

2  Cf.  also  the  forms  'Cingala'  and  :  with  you.'  While  the  devotee  was 
'  Gingaleh  ' ;  see  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  j  burning,  all  showed  the  greatest  joy, 
vi.  44-02,  who  refers  to  Aristotle's  j  and  played  upon  instruments.  A 
famous   comparison  of  the  positions   !  few  days  after,  the  spirit  of  the  dead 


IV.] 


CEYLON,    MALABAR,    CHINA,    ADEN 


259 


From  Cejdon  the  passage  to  China  was  made  in  forty 
days.  The  Eabbi  is  one  of  the  earliest  Europeans  to  give  to 
the  great  country  of  the  Far  East  its  modern  name,1  but  he 
only  says  that  it  lay  to  the  eastward,  and  that,  according  to 
some,  the  star  Orion  dominated  the  ungovernable  sea  of 
Nikpha  which  bounded  it.  From  the  Arabian  travellers  or 
story-tellers  our  present  narrative  borrows  the  story  of  the 
ship-wrecked  mariners  saving  themselves  in  the  bides  of 
oxen  and  by  the  help  of  giant  birds.2  At  this  time,  as 
before,  there  were  certainly  Jews  in  China  ;  and  it  may  have 
been  this  circumstance  which  led  Benjamin  to  mention  the 
country ;  but  he  says  nothing  of  these  Hebrew  colonies  ; 
all  he  records  about  the  Indian  Ocean  and  the  Far  East  is 
probably  from  the  hearsay  of  merchants  and  others  whom 
he  met  in  Bagdad  and  at  the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulf. 

Aden,3  '  the  Eden  of    Scripture,'  in  '  Continental  India,' 


(or,  as  Benjamin  thinks,  the  devil  in 
his  image)  would  appear  to  his 
family,  and  give  orders  for  the  dis- 
charge of  his  debts.  On  the  Druses 
of  Ceylon,  cf.  Anciennes  Relations, 
85,  165.  On  the  Jews  of  Ceylon,  cf. 
Asher,  ii.  188,  and  Edrisi,  i.  72,  who 
gives  them  a  position  of  great  import- 
ance, even  politically.  The  name 
'  Cingala '  or  '  Gingaleh '  is  perhaps 
connected  with  the  tradition  of  an  old 
Chinese  colony  near  Point  de  Galle. 
Evidently  Benjamin  conceives  Gin- 
galeh as  different  from  Khandy. 

1  From  the  dynasty  of  the  Kin  ; 
like  'Cathay,'  from  the  previous 
dynasty  of  the   'Khitai'  or  'Kitai. ' 

2  Large  eagles  called  griffins,  who, 
taking  them  for  cattle,  carried  them 
to  their  nests  to  consume  at  leisure. 
The  man  then  cut  open  the  hide  and 
escaped.  All  this  is  probably  ex- 
tracted bv  Benjamin  from  the  stand- 


ard book  of  travellers'  tales  to  which 
Sinbad  owes  so  much  ;  cf.  Edrisi,  i, 
96-7. 

3  '  Continental '  or  '  Middle'  India, 
'  called  Aden,  and  in  Scripture  Eden 
in  Thelasar.'  There  is  a  striking 
parallel  here  with  M.  Polo,  who 
makes  Abyssinia,  plus  the  West 
Arabian  shore,  equivalent  to 
'Middle,'  'Second,' or  'Continental' 
India  ;  cf.  the  Persian  name  of 
'Black  Indians'  for  Abyssinians. 
Benjamin's  Khulan,  mentioned  im- 
mediately after  Gingaleh,  is  perhaps 
Socotra,  or  some  point  near  the  en- 
trance of  the  Persian  Gulf.  After  it 
the  Records  name  Sebid  (also  in 
Edrisi,  i.  49),  a  very  important 
market,  one  hundred  and  thirty-two 
miles  from  Sana'a  in  Yemen.  For 
'Eden  in  Thelasar,'  cf.  2  Kings  xix. 
12  ;  Isaiah  xxxvii.  12  ;  the  only 
Thelas(s)ar  known  is  in  Mesopotamia. 


260 


BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA 


[Ch. 


famous  for  its  mountains  and  its  independent  Jews,  was  at 
war  with  the  Christian  Kingdom  of  Nubia.1  This  reference 
(as  far  as  the  Hebrews  are  concerned)  seems  like  a  con- 
fusion with  an  earlier  time,  before  the  rise  of  the  Prophet 
Mohammed,  when  Jewish  kings  reigned  in  Yemen  and 
fought  with  the  Christians  of  Abyssinia.  In  the  twelfth 
century  Nubia  was  slowly  becoming  Islamised  ;  but  this 
process  was  not  completed  till  the  time  of  Albuquerque ; 
and  the  Rabbi's  notice  of  Christianity  in  that  land  is  sound 
enough.2  Thence  he  brings  us  through  the  Desert  of  Sheba 
to  Assuan,  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  or  Pison,  which  here 
came  down  from  the  country  of  the  Blacks,  inhabited  by 
people  who  often  resembled  the  beasts,  ate  herbs,  and  were 
without  the  notions  of  other  men.  From  Assuan  the 
Records  transport  one  to  Khalua,  whence  caravans  crossed 
the  Desert  of  Sahara  in  fifty  clays  '  even  unto  Zavilah,3  the 
Havilah  of  Scripture,  which  is  in  the  land  of  Ghanah.' 4  This 
caravan  trade  was  often  endangered  by  sand-storms,  but  its 
commerce  was  extensive  ;  iron,  copper,  fruit,  pulse,  and  salt 
were  offered  against  gold  and  precious  stones.     The  whole 


1  On  Christian  Nubia,  cf.  Masudi, 
i.  17-23,  in  Quatremere's  Extracts. 
On  Assuan,  the  ancient  Syene,  so 
important  in  early  geographical  cal- 
culations, cf.  Ibn  Haukal,  Eclrisi,  and 
Masudi,  ii.  4,  9  (Quatremere). 

2  Governed  by  a  '  Sultan  -  al- 
Habesh,'  by  whom  perhaps  we  must 
understand  Prester  John  of  Abys- 
sinia. The  Nile,  in  Benjamin,  is  also 
called  a  '  Sea.'  Masudi  speaks  of  the 
Nubian  Apes,  ii.  30  (Quatremere), 
and  perhaps  is  here  misunderstood  by 
Benjamin.     Cf.  Asher,  ii.  192-5. 

3  Zavilah,  Zuila,  or  Zuela,  is  in 
Edrisi,  i.  25S-9,  and  is  said  by  him 
to  be  remarkable  for  the  splendour 
of  its  bazaars,  streets,  and  buildings. 


Khalua  or  Alua  is  the  Ghalua  of 
Edrisi,  i.  33,  and  is  mentioned  by 
several  Arabic  writers  as  a  place  of 
Jacobite  Christians  and  a  *  starting- 
point  for  Sahara  caravans.  Ghanah 
was  doubtless  the  country  of  the 
modern  Jenne  on  the  Upper  Niger ; 
cf.  Azurara,  Discovery  and  Conquest 
of  Guinea,  Hakl.  Soc.  Edition,  pp. 
xlviii.-l.  of  vol.  ii. 

4  The  town  of  Kuts,  mentioned 
immediately  after  as  having  thirty 
thousand  Jews,  and  lying  on  the 
frontiers  of  Egypt,  is  identified  by 
some  with  Thebes,  by  others  with 
Apollinopolis  Parva  ;  cf.  Makrizi,  i. 
194  (Quatremere)  ;  Asher,  Benjamin, 
ii.  196. 


IV. 


NUBIA,    THE    SAHARA,    NILE,    EGYPT 


261 


land  (or  collection  of  lands)  here  referred  to  lay  to  the  west 
of  Abyssinia. 

Benjamin's  visit  to  Cairo,  the  '  Metropolis  of  the  Arabs 
of  the  Sect  of  Ali,'  must  have  been  shortly  before  the 
overthrow  of  the  Fatimite  Dynasty  in  1171  ;  but  he  says 
nothing  about  Egyptian  politics,  though  he  describes1  the 
overflowing  of  the  Nile,  the  cause  of  its  rise  from  heavy 
rains  in  Abyssinia,  and  the  Nilometer  which  marked  the 
stages  of  that  rise.  The  granaries  of  Joseph  in  Old  Cairo, 
Misraim,  or  Memphis,  Benjamin  does  not  identify  (like 
so  many  Christian  travellers)  with  the  Pyramids,  which 
are  separately  described,  as  constructed  with  wondrous 
magic  and  unequalled  in  the  world.  The  Babbi  concludes 
his  Egyptian  notes  with  an  interesting  picture  of  Alexandria. 
This  great  city  had  now  been  a  Moslem  town  for  five 
hundred  years ;  but  its  commerce,  as  a  market  for  all 
nations,  was  still  immense.  It2  was  built  upon  arches  by 
Alexander,  the  Macedonian,  and  in  the  outskirts  of  the  city 
was  the  school  of  Aristotle  the  Preceptor.  Its  long  straight 
streets  were  sometimes  a  mile  long.  The  port  was  partly 
formed  by  a  pier  extending  a  mile  into  the  sea  ;  and  here 
was  the  High  Tower,  Lighthouse,  or  Minar,  on  the  summit 
of    which    stood   the   famous  mirror  of   glass,  wherein  one 


1  It  is  curious  that  Benjamin  does 
not  mention  the  '  Canal  of  Joseph ' 
here,  noticed  by  Kdrisi,  i.  308-9. 
The  Rabbi's  identification  of  Pithom 
with  the  Fayi'im  is  doubtful.  Benja- 
min's Tsoan  or  Zoan,  is  apparently 
a  suburb  of  Cairo  near  the  Mokattam 
Hills.  On  the  Xilometer,  cf.  Edrisi, 
i.  310-2  :  and  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  i. 
835.  On  the  Delta  mouths,  see 
Edrisi,  i.  313,  who  makes  only 
four,  two  being  natural  branches, 
the   others   canals.     Benjamin's  Old 


Cairo  or  Memphis  is  apparently 
Fostat;  cf.  Edrisi,  i.  301-2.  The 
Records,  in  their  treatment  of 
Egyptian  places,  do  not  show  any 
regular  itinerary,  but  merely 
enumerate  the  Jewish  settlements. 
The  Jews  of  Egypt  were  apparently 
not  subject  to  the  '  Prince  of  the 
Captivity,'  owing  to  Fatimite  dread 
of  Bagdad  influence.  Cf.  Asher,  ii. 
196-211. 

2  Cf.    William    of  Tyre,   xix.    24  ; 
Edrisi,  i.  297-8  ;  Asher,  ii.  211-216. 


262 


BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA 


[Ch. 


could  perceive  the  approach  of  hostile  ships  at  a  distance 
of  fifty  days.  At  last  a  Greek  named  Theodore,  of  great 
cunning,  arrived  in  the  port,  bringing  tribute  from  his 
king,  who  was  then  subject  to  Egypt.  Under  the  pretence 
of  good  fellowship  he  made  the  keeper  of  the  lighthouse 
dead-drunk,  broke  the  mirror,  and  escaped.1  The  Christians 
then  resisted  the  Egyptians  with  better  success,  and  took 
Crete  and  Cyprus  from  them.  Without  its  mirror  the 
Pharos  could  still  be  seen  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred 
miles,  and  its  light  at  night  was  a  guide  to  all  mariners. 
From  all  parts  of  Christendom  merchants  resorted  to 
Alexandria, — out  of  Tuscany,  Lombard}',  Apulia,  Amalri, 
Sicily,  Valencia,  Eakuvia,  Spain,  Catalonia,  Roussillon, 
Germany,  Saxony,  Denmark,  England,  Flanders,  Hainault, 
Normandy,  France,  Poitou,  Anjou,  Burgundy,  Mediana, 
Provence,    Genoa,    Pisa,    Gascony,   Aragon,    and    Navarre.2 

has  survived  in  Indian,  Mohammedan, 
and  European  forms.  T.  Wrightrefers 
to  the  Old  English  poem  of  the  Seven 
Sages  as  a  parallel. 

2  The  list  of  the  twenty-eight 
Christian  states,  whose  people 
traded  to  Alexandria,  is  unfortu- 
nately uncertain  here  and  there. 
For  'Valencia'  Asher  suggests 
'  Florence,'  as  Valencia  in  1170  was 
not  Christian  at  all;  for  'Eakuvia' 
Asher  reads  '  Ragusa  ' ;  for  '  Cata- 
lonia' Sprengel  suggests  'Coralita' 
or  'Sardinia.'  'Roussillon'  is  a 
natural  correction  for  the  reading 
of  the  text,  which  is  not  'Russia'  in 
the  MSS.  and  first  editions,  though 
(as  being  nearer  to  this  form)  it 
has  been  so  altered.  The  '  German' 
Traders  are,  no  doubt,  from  Lubeek 
and  other  Hanse  towns.  '  Mediana' 
is  perhaps  'Maine.'  For  'England' 
Zunz  would  read  '  Galicia.'  Cf. 
Asher 's  Benjamin,  ii.  218-220. 


1  Another  version,  given  by 
Langles,  tells  how  a  Greek  spy 
persuaded  Walid,  sixth  of  the  Om- 
meyads,  to  let  him  dig  under  the 
Pharos  for  treasure.  With  this 
excuse  he  destroyed  both  Pharos  and 
mirror.  This  Greek  spy  was  in  the 
service  of  the  Emperor  Justinian  II., 
or  Anastasius  II. ;  he  pretended  to 
be  a  deserter  and  to  embrace  Islam, 
and  so  won  the  confidence  of  Walid. 
According  to  the  Arabs,  the  ob- 
servatory of  Alexandria  was  in  the 
Pharos. 

Cf.  the  pilgrim  Arculf,  who  tells 
us  how  St.  Mark's  body  then  lay 
(A.n.  690)  in  a  church  in  Alex- 
andria ;  also  Bernard  the  Wise,  who 
describes  how  the  Venetians,  some 
time  before  his  visit  in  867,  had 
carried  off  the  relics  of  this  saint. 
The  story  given  above  seems  to  have 
been  one  of  those  which  has  almost 
gone  the  round  of  the  old  world,  and 


IV. 


TRADE    OF    ALEXANDRIA 


263 


Mohammedan  traders  came  thither  from  Andalusia,  Algarve, 
Africa,  and  Arabia,  as  well  as  from  the  countries  towards 
India — Ab}Tssinia,  Nubia,  Yemen,  Mesopotamia,  and  Syria. 
From  India  they  imported  all  sorts  of  spices,  which  were 
bought  by  Christian  merchants.  The  city  was  full  of 
bustle,  and  every  community  had  its  own  fonteccho  there. 
It  was  probably  from  the  lists  of  these  fontecchi,1  from  the 
consulates  (in  modern  language)  of  the  various  nations, 
that  Benjamin  compiled  this  catalogue  of  the  traders  of 
Alexandria. 

Leaving  Egypt,  a  land  unequalled  upon  earth  for  its 
cultivation,  the  traveller  briefly  notices  Mount  Sinai  (on 
the  top  of  which  stood  a  Church  of  Syrian  monks)  and 
the  arm  of  the  Eed  Sea,2  one  day's  journey  from  the  Holy 
Mountain,  which  itself  was  an  off-shoot  from  the  Indian 
Ocean.  For  himself,  he  seems  to  have  returned  to  Europe 
by  way  of  Damietta3  and  Messina,4  where  then  assembled 
most  of  the  pilgrims  for  Jerusalem.  Benjamin's  note-book 
concludes  with  a  glowing  description   of  the  splendours  of 

1  These  fontecchi  ('pundak'  in  Asher  suggests  that  the  author  is 
Benjamin,  from  the  Greek  wavdoKeia) 
were  great  compounds  or  enclosures 
containing  the  establishments  of 
foreign  traders,  and  including — (1) 
their  shops  and  warehouses ;  (2) 
baths,  taverns,  and  bakehouses  ;  (3) 
a  church  or  chapel ;  (4)  a  market- 
place where  men  could  carry  on 
trade,  even  if  debarred  from  the 
Moslem  city  outside.  They  were 
therefore  more  than  'hostelries  for 
sea-captains,'  as  Asher  calls  them. 

2  Ailah  or  Elim  belonged,  says 
Benjamin,  to  the  Bedawin  Arabs ; 
cf.  Edrisi,  i.  322.  On  Mount  Sinai, 
cf.  Edrisi,  i.  332,  and  Ibn  Haukal, 
who  both  speak  of  the  Christian 
House  of  Religion  here.  On  Benja- 
min's place-names  in  this  last  section 


here  copying  an  older  pilgrim-route 
from  -  Egypt  to  Mount  Sinai,  and 
thence  back  to  Damietta,  whence 
the  voyage  to  Palestine  was  often 
undertaken. 

3  The  'Tennis'  or  'Khanes'  of 
Benjamin  (near  Alexandria,  on  Lake 
Menzaleh,  which  sometimes  was  also 
called  'Tennis')  is  perhaps  the 
Almas  of  Edrisi,  i.  128.  Here 
Asher  thinks  the  Rabbi  may  have 
embarked  for  Sicily,  but  Alexandria 
is  more  likely.  Damietta  was 
probably  his  first  place  of  call  after 
embarkation. 

4  Cf.  Edrisi,  ii.  81.  Benjamin's 
name  of  'Lunir'  for  the  Straits  of 
Messina  is  peculiar.  Cf.  Asher, 
Benjamin,  ii.  224. 


264 


BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA,    ETC. 


[Ch. 


Sicily,1  and  a  few  remarks  upon  Germany,  'the  country  of 
Bohemia  called  Prague,'  France,2  and  Eussia.  This  last  was 
very  extensive,  mountainous,3  and  full  of  forests,  and  from 
the  gates  of  Prague  to  those  of  Kiev  one  travelled  over  the 
lands  of  Slavonia,4  where  intense  cold  kept  all  men  within 
their  houses  in  winter,  except  for  the  chase  of  sables  or 
white  squirrels.5 


Eabbi  Moses  Petachia,  a  contemporary  of  Benjamin  of 
Tudela,  visited  the  Levant  within  a  very  short  time  of 
his  predecessor.  For  Benjamin  names  one  Daniel  as  the 
Prince  of  the  Captivity  at  the  time  of  his  stay  in  Bagdad  ; 
while  Petachia  says  this  same  Daniel  had  been  dead  a  year 


1  On  Palermo  cf.  Edrisi,  ii.  76-8. 
Benjamin's  remark,  'Palermo  is  the 
Viceroy's  seat,'  probably  refers  to 
Stephen,  Archbishop  of  Palermo, 
Governor  and  Viceroy  of  the  Norman 
Kingdom.  This  was  Stephen  of 
Rotrou,  son  of  the  Count  of  Perche  ; 
he  was  brought  to  Palermo  and  made 
chancellor  (c.  a.d.  1166),  during 
the  minority  of  William  II.  of  Sicily, 
by  the  Queen  Mother  Gentiles,  who 
acted  as  Regent,  and  her  uncle  the 
Archbishop  of  Rouen. 

Sicilian  coral,  referred  to  by 
Benjamin  as  a  '  stone '  found  near 
Trapani,  is  also  mentioned  by  Edrisi, 
i.  266-7,  and  modern  books ;  some 
of  it  is  valuable  in  commerce.  Here 
is  another  proof  of  Benjamin's  calling 
as  a  merchant.     Cf.  Asher,  ii.  224-5. 

2  Benjamin's  '  Mount  Maurienne  ' 
was  of  course  in  the  county  so  called, 
then  including  nearly  all  modern 
Savoy.  The  name  is  said  to  signify 
'Moors-land,'  and  to  come  from  the 
Arab  invasion  of  the  ninth  century. 
A  count  of  Maurienne  and  Turin 
joined  in  the  second  Crusade. 


3  The  best  explanation  of  this 
phrase  seems  to  be  the  Carpathians. 

4  Called  Khna'an  or  Canaan  by 
the  Jews  because  of  the  prevalence 
of  slavery  in  Slav  lands,  even  in 
Bohemia  (cf.  Genesis  ix.  25,  'cursed 
be  Canaan,  a  servant  of  servants 
shall  he  be  '  .  .  .).  Hence  the  belief 
of  some  Jews  that  the  Slavs  were 
descendants  of  the  Canaanites. 
Among  Jewish  references  to  Slav 
lands  we  have  those  of  Petachia 
(c.  a.d.  1180),  of  Chasdai,  the  famous 
Physician  and  Minister  of  Abder- 
rahman  III.  of  Cordova  (c.  970), 
and  of  Eliezer  Ben  Nathan  (c.  1100). 
The  last-named  seems  to  have  visited 
Russia,  and  refers  to  the  images 
(pictures  or  eikons)  of  saints  on  the 
doors  and  walls  of  the  houses.  It 
is  curious  that  Moses  Maimonides 
uses  the  term  Khna'ani  or  Canaanites 
for  the  '  Syrian '  or  Arabic  invaders 
of  the  Magreb  or  North- West 
Africa. 

5  'Vaiverges,'  the  Polish  '  Wie- 
worka.' 


IV.]  PETACHIA    OF   RATISBON  265 

before  his  arrival  in  the  Moslem  capital.  But  we  must 
remember  that  the  weaknesses  and  inaccuracies  which  are 
sometimes  to  be  found  even  in  Benjamin  appear  much  more 
prominently  in  Petachia,  who  is  in  every  way  an  inferior 
writer  and  observer.  So  it  may  be  well  not  to  rely  too 
strictly  on  calculations  depending  upon  the  minute  accuracy 
of  one  of  his  remarks.  Thus,  while  he  agrees,  as  above 
noticed,  with  Benjamin  in  his  mention  of  the  chief  Rabbi 
Daniel,  he  gives  a  different  name 1  for  the  Father  of  the  same 
chief  Babbi. 

As  with  the  writer,  so  with  the  text.  If  there  is  ground 
for  thinking  that  Benjamin's  record  has  been  abridged  by  an 
editor,  in  the  case  of  Petachia  we  know  that  what  has  come 
down  to  us  is  only  a  selection.  Large  portions  of  what 
appear  to  have  been  highly  interesting  matter  have  been 
omitted  by  Babbi  Yehuda  the  Pious,  who  acted  as  Petachia's 
literary  mouth-piece,  and  who  frankly  refused  to  write  down 
many  of  the  details  that  were  given  him.2  This  Babbi 
Yehuda,  like  Petachia  himself,  was  a  native  of  Begensburg 
or  Batisbon  in  Bavaria,  on  the  Upper  Danube  ;  he  was  re- 
lated to  several  famous  Jewish  doctors  3  of  the  later  twelfth 
and  earlier  thirteenth  centuries  ;  and  to  him,  as  a  man  of 
ripe  judgment,  the  traveller  submitted  this  report.  The 
result  is  an  arid  and  disappointing  summary  of  a  journey 
that  deserved  a  better  fate. 

Petachia,  after  returning  from  his  travels,  if  not  before, 
seems  to  have  left  the  'Jewish  Athens'  on  the  Danube, 
and   removed   to    Prague4   in    Bohemia.     The   date   of    his 

1  Chasdai  in  Benjamin.  Shelomoh   j    Ben    Jacob,    and    R.     Nachman    of 
in  Petachia.  I    Ratisbon.     Yehuda   died  a.d.    1217 

2  Cf.   p.   13  of  the  London  edition   |    or  thereabouts. 

of   1S56  :     '  R.    Yehuda    would   not   j  4  So    Zunz.      The    first   edition  of 

write  this  down.'                                      I  Petachia  was  published  in  this  city 

3  For  instance,  his   brothers  were  a.d.    1595,   with    a  German  transla- 
R,     Isaac     Hallaban     (the     White)   I  tion, 


266  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA,    ETC.  [Ch. 

journey  must  apparently  be  fixed  to  a  time  before  Saladin's 
reconquest  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Holy  Land1  (1187);  on 
the  other  hand,  his  narrative  is  clearly  a  little  later  than 
Rabbi  Benjamin's  ;  we  may,  perhaps,  assume  that  it  lies 
between  the  years  1180  and  1186. 

Petachia's  outward  route,  compared  with  Benjamin's, 
is  somewhat  like  that  of  Carpini  in  relation  to  his  successor 
Eubruquis.  On  one  side  we  have  a  northern  overland 
journey  traversing  many  of  the  regions  of  Eastern  Europe  ; 
on  the  other  side  is  the  Southern  Mediterranean  or  maritime 
way  more  usually  followed,  at  least  by  the  literary  travellers, 
from  "Western  Christendom  to  the  Levant.  It  is  very 
doubtful,  however,  whether  this  can  be  said  of  the  mercantile 
movements  which,  after  all,  must  have  employed  a  far 
larger  number  of  the  journeying  classes. 

Petachia 2  set  out  from  Prague,  travelled  through  Poland, 
and  so  came  to  Kiev  on  the  Dniepr,  even  then,  in  its  decay, 
the  capital  of  the  Eussian  lands.  Erom  Eussia  the  Eabbi 
came  in  six  days  to  the  lower  course  of  the  Dniepr,  where  it 
flowed  through  the  land  of  Kedar,  the  country  of  the 
Petchinegs  and  Romans.  Through  this  land  of  Kedar,  the 
Ukraine  of  the  Slavs,  he  next  passed,  and  he  describes  it 
faithfully  enough,  like  some  of  the  more  trustworthy  of  sub- 
sequent wanderers  in  the  Tartar  steppes.  The  people  of  this 
country  had  no  ships  or  boats,  but  crossed  the  rivers  on  rafts 
of  horse  hide,  which  they   tied  to  the  tails  of  their  living 


1  This  appears  from  Petachia's 
language,  but  with  less  clearness 
than  one  could  wish. 

2  In  Wagenseil's  Altilorf  edition  of 
1687-1691  occurs  the  title,  'Circuit 
of  the  Rabbi  Petachia  of  Hatisbon, 
brother  of  R.  Isaac  the  White, 
Author    of    the   Tosephoth,    and   of 


the  Rabbi  Nachman  of  Ratisbon. 
And  R.  Petachia  went  round  all  the 
countries  as  far  as  the  river  Samba- 
tion.'  Here  we  follow  the  divisions 
and  pages  of  the  London  edition  of 
1856,  by  Dr  A.  Benisch  and  W.  P. 
Ainsworth. 


IV.]        PETACHIA'S    ROUTE  ;    PRAGUE    TO    KHAZARIA       267 


horses.1  These  last  swam  across  and  towed  their  masters 
after  them.  The  inhabitants  of  Kedar 2  ate  no  bread,  but  only 
rice  and  cheese,  millet  boiled  in  milk,  and  raw  or  half-cooked 
flesh.  In  this  land  strangers  travelled  under  escort ;  the 
savage  natives  drank  from  skulls,  and  from  vessels  of  copper, 
which  were  made  to  resemble  skulls  ;  their  favourite  oath 
was  by  the  drinking  of  blood.  As  a  nation  they  lived  in  tents, 
were  excellent  archers,  and  very  far-sighted,  perceiving  objects 
at  more  than  a  day's  distance  from  them  ;  their  country, 
which  it  took  Petachia  sixteen  days  to  cross,  was  wonder- 
fully level ;  and  their  government  was  in  the  hands  of  noble 
families  who  lived  unhampered  by  kingship.  So  far,  allowing 
for  certain  exaggerations  of  detail,  the  Rabbi  is  in  complete 
agreement  with  all  careful  observers  of  the  Turco-Tartar 
races  from  the  time  of  Justinian  ;  but  when  he  adds  that  the 
folk  of  Kedar  had  beautiful  eyes,  because  they  ate  no  salt, 
and  were  favoured  with  the  scent  of  fragrant  plants,  it  is 
more  difficult  to  follow  him. 

A  gulf  of  the  sea  ran  in  between  Kedar  and  Meshech 3 
between  the  Ukraine  and  these  shore  -  lands  of  the 
Crimea  and  Sea  of  Azov,  to  which  the  name  of  Khazaria 
clung  centuries  after  the  Khazar  dominion  had  passed 
away.  Through  Khazaria  the  Eabbi  travelled  about  eight 
days  ;  at  the  end  of  this  country,  seventeen  rivers  4 
which  surrounded  it  came  together  and  flowed  into  'the 
Sea,'  whether  the  Black  Sea  or  the  Sea  of  Azov  is  not 
quite    clear.      On    the    shallow    waters    of    the   latter,   in 


1  Cf.  Xenophon,  Anabasis,  v.  10  ; 
and  the  Tarikh-el-Kamil  on  the 
passage  of  the  Oxus  by  the  Mongols 
in  a.d.  1219.  .   .  . 

2  In  Kedar  were  no  true  Jews,  but 
a  number  of  heretical  Sectaries,  who 
claimed  membership  with  the  chosen 
people. 


3  The  land  of  the  Khazars. 

4  The  '  end  of  Khazaria '  should 
bring  one  at  least  to  the  Don,  but 
this  remark  on  the  seventeen  water- 
courses, requiring  a  river  with  many 
branches,  does  not  suit  the  lower 
Tanais,  Dniepr,  Volga,  or  any  other 
stream  of  this  part. 


268  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA,   ETC.  \Pb. 

their  furthest  western  reaches,  often  known  to  ancient 
geographers  as  the  Putrid  or  Stagnant  Sea,  to  more 
modern  times  as  the  Sea  of  Sivash,  Petachia  is  un- 
usually detailed.  If  the  wind  blew  from  this  fetid  marsh, 
it  was  always  fatal,  he  declares,  to  passers-by.  All  this  ex- 
aggeration is  to  heighten  the  contrast  with  the  sweet  waters 
of  the  Black  Sea  on  the  other  side  of  Meshech  or  Khazaria, 
The  Rabbi's  terms  of  Kedar  and  Meshech,  apparently  used 
as  generic  expressions  for  distant  and  barbarous  countries, 
are  not  in  agreement  with  the  ordinary  usage  of  Jewish 
writers,  to  whom  Kedar  is  properly  Arabia.  As  to  the 
Khazars,  so  famous  in  earlier  times  as  the  one  important 
addition  which  the  Jewish  Faith  ever  gained  in  Europe,  they 
had  ceased  to  rule  this  country  for  more  than  one  hundred 
years  when  Petachia  wrote ;  first  the  Petchinegs,  then  the 
Komans,  had  supplanted  them  in  their  Kingdom  of  the 
Steppes,  as  they,  in  their  turn,  were  to  be  supplanted  by  the 
Mongols.  In  Petachia's  time  the  old  connection  of  the 
Crimea  with  Constantinople  had  been  strengthened  by 
Manuel  Comnenus,  and  the  people  of  the  Peninsula  pro- 
fessed a  direct  allegiance  to  the  Greek  Emperors.  To  the 
Jewish  traveller  the  Karaite  or  heretic  Jews  were  natur- 
ally of  special  interest.  These  Sectarians,  who  rejected  the 
Talmud  and  all  tradition,  holding  only  by  Scripture,  had 
been  long  established  in  the  Crimea,  and  their  principal 
stronghold  was  near  the  modern  Baktchi-Sarai.  It  is  not 
unnatural  to  suppose  that  they  were  in  part,  if  not  entirely, 
descendants  of  the  Judaising  Khazars. 

The  next  stage  in  his  journey  Petachia  calls  the  Land  of 
Togarma1  which  adjoined  the  Country  of  Ararat  ;2  and  in 

1  Togarma,     Petachia     says,    was  i   mim '     in     the     sense     of     '  Turks' 

tributary   to    the    King    of    Greece.  country.' 

Of.    Benjamin     of    Tudela's    '  Tho-  2  Petachia  seems  to  allude  to  the 

garma '  and    '  Land   of  the   Thogar-  two    P^aks    of    Ararat    in    a    later 


IV-]       PETAOHIA'S    ROUTE  ;    KHAZARIA    TO    BABYLON      269 

these  two  expressions  Georgia  and  Armenia  are  evidently 
intended.1  Beyond  this  region  was  the  Land  of  Islam. 
Herein  he  travelled  in  eight  days  to  Nisibis  and  the 
neighbourhood  of  Diarbekr,  having  the  range  of  Ararat 2  on 
his  right ;  and  at  the  end  of  these  mountains  he  seems  to 
have  gone  eastwards  from  Nisibis  to  Mosul  or  Nineveh  on 
the  Tigris,  where  the  whole  land  was  black  like  pitch.  The 
famous  city  which  had  once  stood  here,  and  the  forests  that 
had  covered  this  region,  were  now  no  more  ;  they  had  been 
blotted  out  like  the  Cities  of  the  Plain. 

At  Mosul  Petachia  fell  ill,  and  from  his  language  here 
we  may  suppose  that  he  was  a  rich  man,  and  had  some 
fear  of  his  death  being  hastened  by  the  natural  desire  of 
the  Sultan  to  seize  half  his  property,  as  the  law  allowed  at 
the  death  of  a  travelling  Hebrew.  Determined  to  disappoint 
the  grasping  Moslems,  the  Eabbi  recovered,  and  crossed  the 
Tigris  on  a  raft  of  reeds  '  dressed  in  his  most  beautiful 
clothes,'  perhaps  in  a  sort  of  bravado. 

From  Nineveh 3  the  traveller  floated  down  the  current 
of  the  Arrowy  Tigris  to  Babel,  making  the  distance  in 
fifteen   days.      It  is  confusing   enough    to  find   him  using 


passage  (p.  49  of  Eng.  Ed.),  but  he 
declares  tlie  Ark  was  no  longer  there. 

1  Both  Georgians  and  Armenians 
considered  themselves  descendants  of 
the  Thogarma  of  Genesis  x.  3,  whom 
some  Jewish  writers,  e.g.  Benjamin, 
evidently  think  the  ancestors  of  the 
Turks  (Thogarmim).  There  were  hut 
few  Jews  in  the  large  cities  of 
this  country. 

2  As  in  other  writers,  Ararat  is 
here  u<ed  in  two  senses  ; — first,  the 
Peak  itself,  the  Turkish  Kus-dagh  ; 
and  secondly,  the  range  extending 
from  the  neighbourhood  of  Erivan 
and  the  River  Aras,  down  south-west 


to  Cilicia  and  the  Mediterranean, 
i.e.  the  Taurus.  Near  the  modern 
Diarbekr  Petachia  only  mentions 
Khosen-Kapha,  perhaps  the  Saphe  of 
Ptolemy,  the  Supha  of  Plutarch,  the 
Turkish  Hisu- Kapha.  Nisibis  was 
an  old  Jewish  centre  of  learning,  of 
which  Ezra  was  the  traditional 
founder ;  and  there  was  a  large 
Hebrew  colony  in  Petachia's  days. 
Cf.  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  xi.  558,  who 
quotes  a  record  of  30,000  Jewish 
families  living  in  and  near  Nisibis. 

3  Here  Petachia  was  much  inter- 
ested in  an  elephant  that  executed 
criminals. 


270  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA,    ETC.  [C«. 

almost  indiscriminately  the  three  senses  of  the  Eabbinieal 
Babel  (as  employed  for  Mesopotamia,  in  a  wider  and  a 
narrower  sense,  as  well  as  for  a  small  district  on  the  East 
of  the  Euphrates,  round  Pumbeditha),  but  here  the  second 
sense  appears  dominant ;  for  on  reaching  Babel  the  writer 
goes  in  one  day  to  Bagdad,  the  Metropolis  of  Islam,  and  the 
seat  of  the  Caliph,  the  'Great  King  who  ruled  over  nations.' 
Petachia  probably  visited  the  city  shortly  after  Benjamin, 
and  in  the  same  period  of  the  Caliphate.  He  describes1  it 
as  very  large,  more  than  one  day  across,  and  three  days  in 
circuit ;  for  the  rest,  he  agrees  closely  with  Benjamin,  es- 
pecially as  to  the  position  and  importance2  of  the  Jewish 
colony  and  their  Chief,  the  Head  of  the  Captivity. 

From  Bagdad,  Petachia  travelled  to  Nehardea,3  Shushan, 
Mella,4  and  the  graves  of  various  Jewish  Saints  and  Prophets. 
Hereabouts  he  saw  a  remarkable  animal,  the  flying  camel, 
which  could  go  a  mile  in  a  second  ;  and  in  the  same  region  he 
collected  many  Jewish  legends  and  miracle-stories,  especially 
of  the  tombs  of  Ezra  and  Ezekiel.  Here,  also,  his  geography 
becomes  more  than  ever  confused  ;  from  the  neighbourhood 
of  Bagdad  to  Mount  Sinai  was  all  one  mountain  range,  as 
men  reported. 

The    Jews   of    Babel,    Persia,   and   Ivush    (^Ethiopia   or 

1  One  detail  he  adds  to  Benjamin,    I    li-din   Allah    (Abnl    Abbas    Ahmed 
on  the   Gates   of  Bagdad,   made  of  |    VII ,  a.d.  11S0-1225). 
polished  copper,  so  bright  that  horses   I       3  Often  mentioned  in  the  Talmud 


were  frightened  by  their  glitter,  etc. 
2  He  also  gives  the  same  extrava- 
gantly low  number  of  1000  Hebrews 
(with  2000  students  in  the  Jewish 
academy)  in  a  city,  which  at  this 
time  perhaps  contained  500,000 
people  Petachia's  Caliph  was  per- 
haps either — (1)  Mostadhi  Billah, 
1170-1179,    or    (2)   one    of    his    two 


and  Josephus,  a  stronghold  of  Baby- 
lonian Jews  corresponding  to  the 
modern  hamlets  of  Werdi  and  Irzah. 
4  Perhaps  the  modern  Mella,  near 
Birrah,  on  the  Euphrates,  although 
this  is  much  disputed.  The  tomb  of 
Daniel  at  Shushan  or  Snsa  is  de- 
scribed in  very  similar  language  by 
Benjamin,   Petachia,   and    the   Arab 


successors.     Carmoly  suggests  Nasir-    |    geographers,  e.g.  Ibn  Haukal. 


IV.]  PETACHIA   IN   BAGDAD    AND   WEST   PERSIA         271 

Abyssinia),1  were  numerous,  but  often  suffered  from  oppres- 
sion, as  in  '  Greece.'  The  Land  of  Israel  was  still  subject  to 
the  Christians  (so  Petachia  hints  rather  than  asserts),  and  the 
Jews  who  lived  there  obeyed  the  spiritual  commands  of  the 
Head  of  the  Academy  at  Bagdad. 

Since  he  had  left  Bohemia,  the  Rabbi  had  journeyed 
steadily  towards  the  East,  until  his  arrival  at  the  '  Home  of 
Peace ' ;  now  he  began  to  turn  westward.  He  does  not 
himself  remark  upon  what  now  appears  the  most  curious 
feature  of  his  journey,  his  outward  route  by  the  northern 
and  eastern  shores  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  consequent  arrival 
in  Western  Asia  from  a  side  almost  unattempted  by  other 
mediaeval  travellers.  Nor  does  he  give  any  complete 
itinerary  of  his  return.  He  is  content  to  furnish  us  with 
ampler  details  of  Palestine. 

From  Bagdad  to  the  site  of  old  Babylon,  from  Babylon 
back  to  Mosul  and  Nisibis,  thence  to  Haran,  Aleppo,  and 
Damascus — so  Petachia  made  his  way  into  the  Holy  Land 
of  his  race.  He  probably  did  not  visit  the  river  Samba- 
tion,  which  his  narrative  begins  by  fixing  as  the  goal  of 
his  journey  ;  he  only  repeats  the  Rabbinical  fables  about 
this  marvellous  stream,  which  stopped  dead  on  the  Sabbath,2 
and  which  lay  forty  days' journey  beyond  the  tomb  of  Ezekiel, 
near  the  Mountains  of  Darkness,  where  the  lost  Ten  Tribes 
were  imprisoned,  awaiting  the  Coming  of  the  Messiah. 

In  the  Cities  of  the  Caliph  the  traveller  saw  the  envoys 
of  the  king  of  Meshech,3  whose  realm   extended  as  far  as 

1  The  regular  Hebrew  use  of  Kush   |    uental  India,   called  Aden  '  and   its 


(cf.  Genesis  x.  6 ;  1  Chron.  i.  8,  9  ; 
Isaiah,  xi.  11)  might  imply  either 
(1)  ^Ethiopia  or  (2)  Arabia.  Petachia 
could  hardly  be  ignorant  that  for  five 
centuries  and  a  half  Jews  had  been 
excluded  from  the  Holy  Land  of 
Islam  :  but  of.  Benjamin  on  '  Conti- 


'  independent  Jews.'  Taking  him 
in  the  Abyssinian  sense,  Petaehia's 
notice  is  interesting,  and  agrees  with 
other  information. 

-  Cf.  the  other  name  '  Sabbation.' 
3  '  Apparently     here      used      for 
Magog,'  Benisch  conjectures. 


272  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA,    ETC.  [CH. 

the  aforesaid  Mountains  of  Darkness,  beyond  which  lived 
the  sons  of  Jonadab  Ben  Eechab.  Here  !  we  seem  to  have  a 
confused  reminiscence  of  an  earlier  time ;  for  the  marvellous 
conversion  of  the  Seven  Kings,  and  the  visits  of  Eabbis 
even  from  Egypt  to  instruct  the  people  of  Meshech  in  the 
law  of  Moses,  can  hardly  refer  to  anything  else  than  the 
Hebrew  Kingdom  of  the  Steppes. 

The  heat  of  Babylon  was  such  that  to  Petachia  it  seemed 
a  different  world ;  from  his  description  of  the  Jewish  Service 
here  we  might  suppose  that  a  knowledge  of  the  Ancient 
Hebrew  music  was  still  preserved.  Some  of  the  marvels 
which  our  traveller  notices  at  the  tombs  of  the  Prophets 
may  be  frankly  accepted  ;  for  the  supernatural  lights  that 
appeared  here  were  no  doubt  due  in  his  time  as  well  as  ours 
to  springs  of  naphtha.  Petachia's  appetite  for  the  miracu- 
lous is  stronger  than  Benjamin's,  but  his  marvels  are  of  the 
same  kind. 

When  he  visited  the  '  goodly  city '  of  Damascus,  it  had 
already  passed  under  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Egypt,  the 
great  Saladin,  and  this  fate  was  soon  to  overtake  the  rest 
of  Syria.  East  of  the  Jordan,  in  the  land  of  Sihon,  king  of 
the  Amorites,  and  of  Og,  king  of  Bashan,  where  no  grass  or 
plant  could  grow,  was  the  grave  of  Shem,  which  Petachia 
saw  with  his  own  eyes,  and  thus  could  verify  to  be  eighty 
cubits  (or  forty  yards)  in  length.  Thence  he  moves  onwards 
to  Tiberias,  Acre,  and  Jerusalem,  through  a  land  teeming 
with  marvels.  In  the  Holy  City  there  was  only  one  Jew 
residing,  and  he  paid  a  heavy  tax  to  the  Christian  king. 

Outside  the  walls,  and  standing  upon  Mount  Olivet,  was 

a  palace  built  by  the  Ishmaelites,  while  Jerusalem  was  still 

in  Moslem  hands.     The  Salt  Sea  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  in 

the  midst  of  an  eternal  desolation,  was  no  longer  marked  by 

1  Understanding  by  Meshech  the  Land  of  the  Khazars 


IV.]     PETACHIA  IN  PALESTINE  :    LATER  TRAVELLERS    273 

the  Salt  Pillar  of  Lot's  wife,  as  many  had  supposed  ;  and  the 
circuit  of  the  whole  land  of  Israel,  which  fame  swelled  to  so 
vast  a  size,  could  be  made  in  three  days.  At  Hebron  the 
abridgment  has  preserved  rather  more  of  the  original  narra- 
tive. The  keeper  of  the  Cave  of  Machpelah,  it  may  fairly  be 
supposed,  had  no  authority  to  admit  a  Jew  to  the  earliest 
home  of  his  race,  whence  Christians  or  Moslems  have  so  long 
claimed  to  exclude  him ;  but  a  gold  piece  gained  entry 
for  Petachia.  The  Eabbi,  however,  was  not  satisfied ;  he  be- 
came convinced  that  the  real  tombs  of  the  Patriarchs  were 
still  behind  the  bolts  and  bars  of  an  inner  wall ;  and  with 
another  gold  piece  he  procured  admission  within  the  cave 
itself,  where  he  saw  iron  doors  such  as  no  man  could  make, 
through  which  blew  winds  of  unearthly  power.1 

After  Benjamin  of  Tudela  and  Petachia  of  Eatisbon,  there 
are  several  indications  of  continued  Jewish  travel  to  Syria 
and  other  parts  of  the  Levant ;  few  of  these  are  of  import- 
ance ;  but  one  at  least  is  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  class 
headed  by  the  Eabbi  of  Navarre,  if  we  look  either  at  the 
extent  of  these  travels,  the  variety  of  the  same,  or  the  in- 
tellectual ability  and  linguistic  skill  of  the  wanderer. 

This  was  Jehuda  Charisi  ben  Salomo,  who  about  a.d. 
1216  journeyed  by  way  of  Egypt,  through  Alexandria  and 
Fostat,  to  Judaea  and  Jerusalem.  In  Palestine  he  also 
visited  Gaza,  Ascalon,  Acre,  and  Safed ;  Damascus,  Hems  or 
Emesa,  Hamath,  and  Aleppo  in  Northern  Syria ;  Edessa, 
Harran,  and  Eakka  on  the  middle  course  of  the  Euphrates ; 
Mosul,  Bagdad,  and  the  Shatt-el-Arab  on  the  Tigris  and  in 
the  basin  of  the  Persian  Gulf ;  in  whose  neighbourhood  he 


1  Petachia's    description    of    the   I    detailed  and  interesting  in  mediaeval 
Machpelah  Cave  ranks  with  that  of  j    travel  from  Europe. 
Benjamin   of    Tudela    as    the    most   | 

S 


274  BENJAMIN    OF    TUDELA,    ETC.  [Oh.  IV. 

also  saw  the  tombs  of  Ezra  and  Ezekiel.  He  returned  to 
Moorish  Spain,  his  native  country,  by  way  of  Greece,  passing 
through  Thebes,  so  famous  as  a  Jewish  centre,  among  other 
places.  In  Christian  Spain  he  made  extensive  journeys,  as 
well  as  in  France  ;  in  the  former  he  acquainted  himself  with 
Toledo,  Calatayud,  Lerida,  and  Barcelona ;  in  the  latter,  with 
Narbonne,  Beaucaire,  and  Marseilles,  from  which  last  he 
sailed  to  Alexandria.  Setting  out  on  his  journey  in  about 
1216,  he  ended  his  wanderings  in  1218  or  1219,1  and  among 
his  other  achievements  he  translated  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated and  delicate  of  Arabic  literary  treasures,  the  Assemblies 
of  Al  Hariri. 

Of  other  Hebrew  travellers  or  geographers  in  this  age  we 
need  only  notice  the  anonymous  pilgrim,  who  about  1188 
writes  a  letter  detailing  the  miseries  of  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem  ; 
Samuel  ben  Simson,  who  (some  twenty  years  later)  makes  a 
report  on  his  travels  among  the  Sepulchres  of  the  Fathers 
in  the  Promised  Land  (e.  1210);  Hillel  'of  Palestine,'  whose 
similar  work,  of  almost  the  same  date,  is  only  known  by  a 
fragmentary  quotation  (c.  1212);  and  Jacob  Antoli  of 
Provence,  who  does  not  appear  to  have  left  his  home  on  any 
more  distant  wanderings  than  to  Naples,  where  he  died  in 
1231.  His  chief  work  lay  in  the  translation  of  Ptolemy's 
Almagest  (from  the  Arabic  of  Averroes),  and  of  the  Celestial 
Movements  of  Al  Fergbani ;  to  the  latter  he  added  a  geo- 
graphical chapter,  on  the  position  of  various  towns  ;  and  his 
version  was  the  basis  of  the  standard  Latin  imprint  of  the 
great  Arabic  astronomer. 


1  He  died  c.  1255.  On  the 
Hebrew  travellers  and  geographers, 
before  and  after  Benjamin  of  Tudela 


Essay  on  the  Geographical  Literature 
of  the  Jews,  at  the  end  of  Asher's 
edition  of  Benjamin,  vol.  ii. ,  pp.  230- 


and  Petaehia  of  Ratisbon,  cf.  Zimz,       314, 


(     275     ) 


CHAPTER  V 

DIPLOMATIC   AND    MISSIONARY   TRAVEL — CARPINI,    RUBRUQUIS, 

ETC. 


The  Conquests  of  the  Mongols,  and  especially  their  two 
great  attacks  on  Eastern  Europe  in  1220-22  and  1238-39, 
excited  the  attention  of  Christendom,  not  indeed  enough  to 
still  internal  strife,  but  enough  to  call  out  a  number  of 
writers,  travellers,  envoys,  and  statesmen  who  made  the 
Tartars  their  special  object  of  study.  Horror  was  blended 
with  approbation  ;  these  new  Huns  were  as  revolting  as  the 
men  of  Attila,  but  they  promised  to  be  very  useful  in 
breaking  down  the  power  of  Islam.  Thus  Alberic  Trois- 
Fontaines,  Eoger  Bacon,  Matthew  Paris,  Vincent  of  Beauvais, 
and  the  Pontiffs  Gregory  IX.  and  Innocent  IV.,  with  many 
others,  show  a  considerable  hesitation  and  confusion  of  mind 
in  face  of  the  new  problem  which  had  so  suddenly  arisen. 
Alberic  records  with  triumph  in  1222  how  the  Mongols 
retreated  on  hearing  of  the  fall  of  Damietta  into  Christian 
hands  (1219);  but  in  1239  he  describes  them  sympatheti- 
cally.1 Matthew  Paris  tells  how  in  1238  the  fear  of  the 
Mongols  made  the  people  of  Gothland  and  Friesland  keep 
away  from  the  Yarmouth  herring  fishery ; 2  but  elsewhere  he 


1  Referring  (Cronican,  a.d.  1222)  to 
John  '  de  Palatio '  Carpini,  probably 
our  John  de  Piano  Carpini  ('  Pian  de 
Carpine  ' )  for  his  information.     See 


p.  391. 

2  M.  Paris,  Cronica  Majora,  under 
a.d.  123S  ;  Rolls  Series  Edition,  vol, 
iii.  pp.  488-489, 


276  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  LCu. 

narrates  the  cold  reception  given  to  the  '  Ismaelian '  or 
'  Assassin '  Ambassadors  at  the  Court  of  Henry  III.,  in 
their  appeal  for  aid  against  the  Tartar  hosts  of  Hulagu 
Khan  (1238) ;  and  he  even  seems  to  credit  the  story  of 
Mongol  descent  from  the  Lost  Ten  Tribes,  in  spite  of  the 
cruelty  and  barbarism  of  their  warfare.  Roger  Bacon,  on 
the  contrary,  appears  to  prefer  an  identification  with  Gog- 
Magog  and  the  armies  of  Antichrist,  who  had  broken  out  of 
their  Caucasian  or  Arctic  prison,  and  come  forth  to  desolate 
the  world. 

After  the  battle  of  Lignitz  (9th  April,  1241)  and  the 
ravaging  of  Silesia,  Poland,  Hungary,  and  Moravia,  Frederic 
II.  urged  common  action  upon  Henry  III.  of  England  and 
the  other  princes  of  Christendom ;  and  this  advocacy  was 
alone  enough  to  make  the  Papacy  lukewarm  in  its  support 
of  the  same  object.  Thus,  although  Innocent  IV.  writes 
with  many  brave  words  to  the  Archbishop  of  Aquileia,  and 
Gregory  IX.  addresses  consolations  to  the  Queen  of  Georgia 
and  the  King  of  Hungary  ;  although  a  papal  encyclical  is 
issued  for  a  Crusade  against  the  heathen  enemy ;  and 
although  passionate  exhortations  are  addressed  to  Christen- 
dom to  '  cease  quarrelling,  if  one  would  not  cease  living,' 
little  was  really  attempted,  and  absolutely  nothing  was  done, 
in  a  military  sense.  At  the  Council  at  Lyons,  however,  in 
1245,  two  diplomatic  missions  were  organised,  as  embassies 
from  the  Pope  to  the  Grand  Khan  of  the  Mongols ;  and  on 
the  9th  of  March  the  Pontifical  commission  was  granted  to 
the  envoys.  Of  these  two  missions,  the  first  was  to  take  a 
northern  route  by  way  of  Poland  and  Russia ;  the  second  was 
to  proceed  along  a  more  southerly  course,  through  Asia 
Minor  and  Armenia.  The  former  or  Northern  embassy  was 
committed  to  John  cle  Piano  Carpini,  a  Franciscan  of  a  House 
near  Perugia  and  Provincial  of  his  Order  at  Cologne :    the 


V.]       MISSIONS  FROM  EUROPE  TO  TARTAR Y      277 

latter  or  Southern  legation  was  put  under  another  Francis- 
can, a  Portuguese  named  Lorenzo.  Carpini  started  on  the 
16th  of  April,  1245  ;  delivered  his  letters  to  Kuyuk  Khan 
near  Karakorum  ;  and  in  the  autumn  of  1247  reappeared  at 
Lyons  and  handed  Kuyuk's  answer  to  the  Pope. 

On  this  most  important  journey  (which  there  is  a  certain 
regrettable  tendency  to  depreciate)  John  de  Piano  went  out 
by  way  of  Bohemia,  Poland,  and  the  Ukraine  to  Batu's  camp 
upon  the  Volga,  and  returned  by  the  same  way  ;  his  chief 
companion  was  one  Benedict  the  Pole,  a  Brother  of  his  own 
Order,  who  acted  as  his  interpreter  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
journey. 

As  to  Lorenzo  of  Portugal,  we  hear  nothing  more  about 
his  mission,  but  two  years  later  we  meet  with  him  as  a 
Papal  Legate  in  Asia  Minor.  Apparently  his  enterprise 
was  merged  in,  or  superseded  by,  the  new  embassy  of  1247. 
This  was  addressed  especially  to  the  Mongol  General  Baitu, 
commanding  in  Armenia ;  it  was  likewise  undertaken  by 
commission  from  the  Pope  ;  and  it  was  placed  in  the  charge 
of  another  Friar,  Brother  Ascelin  or  Anselm.  Simon  of 
St.  Quentin  accompanied  Ascelin,,  as  Benedict  the  Pole 
accompanied  Carpini,  and  an  abstract  of  Simon's  account, 
but  probably  a  mere  fraction  of  the  whole,  is  preserved  by 
Vincent  of  Beauvais.  Ascelin  was  coldly  received  by  the 
Mongols,  and  did  not  return  till  1250.  The  staff  of  this 
mission  was  comparatively  large,  but  as  in  some  other 
enterprises,  the  more  pretentious  schemes  proved  the  least 
successful.  According  to  some  writers  the  Dominican 
Andrew  of  Longumeau,  or  Lonciumel,  was  also  associated 
with  Ascelin,  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  journey;  he  is  not 
mentioned  by  Simon ;  but  the  Friars  Alexander,  Alberic, 
and  Guiscard  of  Cremona  (the  last  of  whom  joined  as  an 
interpreter  at  Tiflis),  were  certainly  in  the  party. 


278  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

A  Frenchman  was  also  at  the  head  of  the  next  important 
legation  from  Christendom  to  the  Mongols ;  for  even  before 
the  return  of  Ascelin  another  mission  had  been  sent  to 
Central  Asia  by  the  Most  Christian  king,  the  great  St.  Louis. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  Carpini  and  Benedict,  on  their  return 
from  the  East,  were  presented  to  Louis  IX.,  as  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  they  came  into  contact  with  his  servant 
William  de  Eubruquis  at  the  French  Court.  When  the 
king  went  to  the  Levant  in  1248,  he  took  Kubruquis  with 
him  ;  and  in  the  autumn  of  this  year  Friar  William  was 
present  at  the  reception  of  a  Mongol  embassy  in  Cyprus 
by  his  sovereign.  This  embassy  was  from  Ilchikadai,  the 
Tartar  General  commanding  in  Persia,  who  offered  St.  Louis 
an  alliance  against  the  Moslems ;  it  was  headed  by  one 
David,  who  spread  wild  stories  of  the  conversion  of  the 
Nomade  Court ;  and  King  Louis  promptly  sent  his  answer  by 
the  hands  of  Friar  Andrew  of  Longumeau  in  the  February 
of  1249.  Andrew  reached  Kuyuk's  '  Horde '  on  the  Imil, 
but  he  found  the  Great  Khan  had  just  died,  and  the  Eegent 
Ogul  Gaimish  received  him  as  if  he  were  bringing  tribute 
from  the  King  of  France,  and  sent  an  insulting  answer. 
Both  the  self-styled  legation  of  David  and  the  action  of  Ogul 
Gaimish  were  afterwards  repudiated  in  the  strongest  terms 
by  Mangu  Khan. 

In  1251  Brother  Andrew  returned  from  the  Mongol  Court, 
with  some  messengers  of  the  Empress  Eegent  and  various 
supposed  evidences  of  the  existence  of  the  true  faith  among 
the  Mongols  ;  and  it  was  on  the  strength  of  these,  especially 
in  relation  to  Sartach,  the  son  of  Batu,  occupying  an  im- 
portant command  on  the  north  of  the  Black  Sea,  that  the 
French  king  now  despatched  William  de  Eubruquis  on  a 
fresh  mission. 

But  while  the  king  was  still  at  Caesarea,  busy  in  fortifi- 


v-1  MISSIONS    TO    TARTARY  ;     CARPINI  279 

cations  against  the  Saracens,  there  arrived  at  his  Court,  from 
the  Latin  Emperor  of  Constantinople,  one  Philip  de  Toucy. 
This  Philip  had  gone  not  long  before  on  a  mission  from 
the  Latin  Emperor  Baldwin  II.  to  the  Komans,  and  on  this 
journey  he  was  probably  the  companion  of  one  Baldwin  of 
Hainault,  who  married  a  Koman  princess  and  made  his  way 
to  the  Mongol  headquarters  in  North  Central  Asia.  Philip 
de  Toucy  told  King  Louis  the  story  of  his  journey  ;  and  this 
story  made  Rubruquis  decide  to  travel  through  the  .Koman 
country  in  preference  to  the  Armenian  route.  His  em- 
barkation probably  took  place  at  Acre  ;  his  meeting  with 
his  comrade  Benedict  of  Cremona  may  have  been  in  Con- 
stantinople ;  and  from  his  mistakes  in  referring  to  the 
Dynasty  of  Trebizond,  it  would  appear  that  he  had  quitted 
the  Court  of  King  Louis  before  the  Comnenian  embassy 
arrived  at  Sidon  in  1252  on  a  visit  to  the  French  king. 

Of  these  various  legations  only  two  have  left  us  a  detailed 
account  of  their  journey ;  but  the  narratives  of  Carpini  and 
Rubruquis,  from  their  fulness,  their  accuracy,  and  their  high 
intelligence,  are  an  ample  compensation  for  the  loss  of  others  ; 
and  among  all  the  materials  for  the  history  of  exploration  in 
the  Middle  Ages  there  are  none,  before  the  time  of  Marco  Polo, 
which  occupy  so  prominent  and  so  indispensable  a  place. 

And  first  of  all,  as  to  the  earlier  work.  Carpini  does  not 
begin  with  the  narrative  of  his  travels  properly  speaking, — 
with  his  itinerary  or  geographical  report, — nor  does  he,  like 
Rubruquis,  interweave  this  with  records  of  a  sociological  char- 
acter. On  the  contrary,  he  leaves  to  the  very  end  the  task  of 
telling  us  about  his  journey,  and  gives  the  earlier,  and  by  far 
the  greater,  portion  of  his  book  to  a  minute  account  of  the 
manners,  customs,  and  history  of  the  '  Mongols  whom  we 
call  Tartars.'     It  was  in  this  sense,  no  doubt,  that  he  under- 


280 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


stood  his  task.  We  must  not  forget  his  position  ;  it  was  the 
same  as  that  of  the  other  envoys  ;  all  of  them  alike  were 
commissioned  for  definite  purposes,  they  did  not  go  to  please 
themselves. 

Our  traveller,  who  afterwards  became  Archbishop  of 
Antivari  (1248),1  and  was  now  sent  as  Legate  of  the  Apostolic 
See  to  the  Tartars  and  the  other  nations  of  the  East  (1245), 
made  a  journey  of  sixteen  months  (February  1246  to  June 
1247)  among  the  Oriental  peoples,  from  the  privations  of  which 
he  died  soon  after  his  return.  Everything,  he  declares,  which 
was  described  by  him,  was  either  the  result  of  personal 
experience  or  of  the  information  gained  from  trustworthy 
Christian  captives  of  the  Tartars.  The  Pope  ordered  him 
to  observe  with  care  ;  and  both  he  and  Brother  Benedict  the 
Pole,  his  companion  and  interpreter,  obeyed  this  order  to  the 
letter.  So  Carpini  asseverates,  and  he  further  warns  his 
readers  not  to  disbelieve  what  was  new  and  startling  in  his 
narrative  merely  because  it  was  fresh  to  them.  The  Tartars, 
he  considers,  had  become  by  the  increase  of  their  power  and 
dominion,  a  pressing  danger  to  the  Christian  Church,  and  in 
spite  of  all  difficulties  he  was  anxious  to  see  that  danger  in 
its  own  home,  and  to  forewarn  his  own  people,  by  adequate 
information,  of  the  true  nature  of  the  peril  which  hung  over 
them. 

In  the  course  of  his  wanderings  Friar  John  evidently 
acquired  a  more  bitter  hatred  of  the  Mongols  than  was  the 
case  with  Eubruquis ;  but  their  general  characterisation  of 
the  Tartars  is  strikingly  similar,  and  this  close  agreement  is 
a  confirmation  of  the  trustworthiness  of  both  narratives. 


1  Reckoned  in  Albania  till  1878, 
when  annexed  by  Montenegro  ;  it  lies 
between  the  Lake  of  Skutari  and  the 
sea;  and  now,  as  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  is  the  seat  of  a  Roman  Arch- 


bishop ;  it  was  under  the  Venetians 
from  1450  to  1571.  As  the  nearest 
East  Adriatic  harbour  to  Bari,  it  had 
a  special  interest  for  Italians. 


V.I  CAKPINl's  NARRATIVE;  DESCRIPTIONS  OF  NATURE  281 

The  report  of  Carpini's  mission  opens  with  an  account 
of  the  position,  extent,  and  nature  of  the  Tartar1  country. 
It  lay  in  that  part  where  the  east  was  (as  it  were)  joined 
to  the  north,  and  it  was  bounded  on  the  east  by  Kitaia, 
Cathaia,  or  North  China,  by  the  Solangi  of  Korea  and 
Manchuria,  and  by  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  the  Amur  basin. 
To  the  south  was  the  land  of  the  Saracens,  and  to  the  south- 
west that  of  the  Uigurs ; 2  west  lay  the  Naimans  ;  north 
was  the  all-encircling  Ocean.  The  nature  of  the  soil  of 
Tartary  was  sometimes  a  plain  of  sandy  clay,  sometimes  a 
region  of  high  mountains.  Here  and  there  were  woodlands, 
but  often  were  great  stretches  without  any  trees  at  all. 
Not  a  hundredth  part  was  really  fruitful  ;  the  oases  had  been 
created  by  irrigation  from  the  rivers,  which,  after  all,  were  very 
scarce.  Hence  there  was  also  a  noteworthy  absence  of  towns. 
Karakorum,  indeed,  near  the  seat  of  the  Mongol  Court 
at  Syra  Orda,  was  reputed  fairly  large;3  but  Carpini,  though 
within  half-a-day's  journey  of  this  settlement,  never  saw  it. 
Viewed  as  a  whole,  '  Tartary '  was  only  good  for  pasturage. 

The  climate  of  this  vast  region  was  unequal,  extreme,  or, 
as  we  should  now  say,  'continental.'  Snow-storms,  hail- 
storms, and  thunder-storms  were  of  frequent  occurrence, 
and  the  winds  were  of  terrific  strength,  driving  the  dust 
with  blinding  force.  Summer  was  the  rainy  season,  if  so  it 
could  be  called,  for  the  rain  was  hardly  enough  to  freshen 
the  thin  grass.  The  changes  of  temperature  were  sudden 
and  most  trying ;  and  with  such  a  climate  it  was  little 
wonder  that  Tartary  was  poorer  and  more  wretched  (for  all 
its  vastness)  than  could  be  expressed  in  words. 


1  In  the  narrower  sense  of  Mongol. 

2  Huhiri ;  Uigurs  and  Naimans 
both  seem  to  have  belonged  to  the 
Turco-Tartar  stock.  The  latter  were 
outside  (to  north  and  north-east)  of 


the  pre-Mongol  empire  of  the  Kara- 
Khirai,  the  former  were  mostly  with- 
in the  same. 

3  An  illusion  dispelled  by  Rubru- 
quis.     Cf.  p.  361. 


282  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

In  appearance  the  Tartars  were  different  from  all  other 
men — their  faces  broad,  their  cheek-bones  projecting,  their 
noses  small  and  flat,  their  eyes  tiny,  and  their  eyelids 
drawn  far  up.  Almost  all  had  slender  waists,  small  feet, 
moderate  stature  (inclining  to  shortness),  scanty  beards, 
shaven  crowns.     Their  back  hair  they  grew  long  like  women. 

Their  wives  were  '  many  as  they  would,'  and  they  allowed 
marriage  between  all  except  the  nearest  relations.  Their 
dress  was  the  same  for  both  sexes — tunics  of  buckram, 
velvet,  or  silk  stuffs,  cut  open  from  top  to  bottom,  and 
doubled  over  the  breast.  Married  women,  however,  had 
various  peculiarities  of  apparel ;  but  the  unmarried  were 
habited  almost  exactly  like  men. 

Their  dwellings  were  round  tents  of  osier  work,  with  a 
circular  hole  in  the  top,  admitting  light  and  letting  out  the 
smoke.  A  fire  always  burned  in  the  middle  of  the  hut, 
whose  size  varied  according  to  the  owner's  dignity.  These 
homes  were  moved  freely  from  place  to  place — even  in  war 
— sometimes  being  taken  to  pieces  and  packed,  sometimes 
transported  whole  on  bullock  waggons,  but  never  left  behind.1 
Their  chief  riches  lay  in  their  cattle — camels,  oxen,  sheep, 
goats,  and  horses,  of  which  last  they  had  a  greater  number, 
Carpini  imagined,  than  all  other  nations  put  together.  As  to 
their  religion,  they  believed  in  one  God,  but  had  no  liturgy  or 
ritual ;  and  a  reverence  for  certain  idols  of  felt  and  silk,  which 
they  believed  to  be  the  guardians  of  their  cattle,  was  almost 
their  only  trace  of  a  cult,  except  for  a  vague  honour  paid 
to  the  Southern  Quarter  of  the  Heavens  as  especially  noble. 

The  ceremonial  of  passing  foreign  visitors  between  two 
fires  was  carefully  observed,  and  very  lately  a  distinguished 
stranger  (or  rather  vassal)  had  fallen  a  victim  to  Mongol 

1  So  Herodotus,  i.  216  ;  iv.  46,  106,  121,  and  Aeschylus,  Prometheus  Bound, 
vv.  709-722. 


V.]  CARPINI    ON    TARTAR    MANNERS,    ETC.  283 

etiquette.  Michael,  a  sou  of  the  Priuce  of  Tchernigov 
iu  Eussia,  had  come  to  the  Court  of  Batu  on  the  Volga ; 
he  had  been  passed  between  the  two  fires  to  purify  him  and 
avert  the  evil  eye ;  and  he  had  then  been  ordered  to  bow 
towards  the  South  in  reverence  to  Ghenghiz  Khan.  On  his 
persistent  refusal,  Batu  sent  one  of  his  peers,  the  son  of 
Prince  Yaroslav  of  Vladimir,  to  threaten  him ;  and  as  he 
would  not  yield,  he  was  kicked  in  the  stomach  by  one  of 
the  conqueror's  '  satellites '  till  he  expired.  With  him 
suffered  one  of  his  attendants,  a  certain  Feodor,  who  urged 
his  master  to  be  firm,  and  win  the  crown  of  martyrdom. 

Carpini's  description  of  this  function,  as  it  was  performed 
upon  himself,  may  be  compared  with  that  given  by  the 
Byzantine  Zemarchus  on  his  embassy  to  Dizabul  the  Turk 
in  569.  Two  fires  were  lighted,  and  two  spears  were  placed 
alongside.  A  cord  was  stretched  along  the  top  of  the  spears, 
and  some  shreds  of  buckram  were  tied  on  to  this  cord.  Under 
it,  and  between  the  fires,  passed  those  who  were  to  be  purified. 
At  the  same  time,  two  women  standing  by  threw  water  about 
and  made  incantations.  When  any  one  in  Tartary  had  been 
killed  by  a  thunderbolt,  all  the  people  of  the  district  were 
forced  to  undergo  this  purification. 

The  Tartars  also  adored  the  great  powers  of  nature, 
the  sun  and  moon,  water,  earth,  and  fire ;  for  his  own  part, 
the  traveller  seemed  to  think  they  might  soon  make  im- 
portant changes  in  their  religion  ;  but  the  future  conversion 
of  so  many  of  their  tribes  to  Islam  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  clearly  foreseen  by  him. 

The  Mongols  were  extremely  jealous  of  their  horses,  as 
the  mainstay  of  their  military  power.  While  Carpini  was  in 
their  country,  Andrew,  Prince  of  Tchernigov,  was  executed 
on  an  unproved  charge  of  conveying  these  animals  out  of 
Tartary  and  selling  them  elsewhere.     His  younger  brother 


284  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [°H- 

came  with  the  wife  of  the  murdered  man  to  Batu  to  beg  for 
the  safe  continuance  of  their  land-holdings ;  and  with 
circumstances  of  peculiar  barbarity  the  two  were  forced  into 
an  unwilling,  and  (as  they  believed)  incestuous,  union. 

Though  without  any  law,  properly  speaking,  these  Tartars 
had  certain  traditions  and  prejudices  which  took  the  place  of 
a  judicial  system.  Thus  it  was  regarded  as  wicked  to  touch 
fire,  or  even  approach  it,  with  a  knife  ;  to  flick  arrows  with  a 
whip ;  to  break  one  bone  with  another  ;  to  beat  a  horse  with 
its  bridle;  or  to  kill  young  birds.  But  there  was  no  preju- 
dice, on  the  other  hand,  against  robbery,  torture,  the  pitiless 
slaughter  of  their  helpless  victims,  or  fornication.  They  had 
no  idea  of  future  rewards  and  punishments,  but  only  of  a  life 
after  death  where  the  present  conditions  would  be  exactly 
reproduced.1 

Their  fondness  for  divinations  and  incantations  was 
remarkable,  and  the  answers  of  their  devils  they  believed  to 
be  the  oracles  of  God.  All  their  enterprises  were  begun  at 
the  New  or  Full  Moon,  to  which  they  did  homage  as  to  their 
Great  Khan  or  Emperor. 

By  fire  they  thought  all  things  were  purified,  and  they 
showed  it  the  greatest  reverence.  Those  who  were  present 
at  a  deathbed  could  not  go  to  Court  again  till  the  New 
Moon.  A  spear  shrouded  in  black  felt  at  the  door  of  a  tent 
signified  a  recent  death.  A  table  with  food  and  drink  was 
buried  with  the  departed  chief,  who  was  also  provided  with 
a  mare  and  foal,  and  a  stallion  with  bridle  and  saddle,  as  his 
provision  for  another  life.  Gold  and  silver  were  also 
sometimes  interred.  The  burial  car  and  hut  of  the  de- 
ceased  were  usually  destroyed,  and  his  name 2  none  might 


1  Many    curious    similarities  here 
with  American — Indian  beliefs. 

2  Carpini    quotes   the   practice   of 


Okkodai  Khan  himself,  the  first 
successor  of  Ghenghiz,  in  some  of 
these  particulars. 


v.] 


GAEPINI    ON    TARTAR    MANNERS,    ETC. 


285 


mention  to  the  third  generation.  Two'  great  cemeteries 
existed  in  Tartary — one  for  their  magnates,  the  other  for  their 
warriors  who  were  killed  in  Hungary ;  and  both  these  were 
specially  guarded  and  rigidly  protected  against  intrusion. 
The  traveller  himself  nearly  suffered  death  for  accidentally 
entering  the  latter.  The  Tartars,  proceeds  Carpini,  had  some 
good  qualities  to  balance  their  barbarism,  cruelty,  pride, 
avarice,  and  filth.  They  wrere  marvellously  obedient  to 
their  lords ;  though  the  brigands  of  the  world,  as  regarded 
all  other  peoples,  they  were  scrupulously  honest  among 
themselves ;  haughty  and  arrogant  to  every  foreigner,  they 
were  familiar,  friendly,  and  respectful  to  one  another.  In 
all  enterprises  their  patience,  endurance,  and  cheerfulness 
were  worthy  of  admiration.  Their  women  had  (unusual) 
chastity ;  so  at  least  Carpini,  unlike  others,  was  inclined  to 
think ;  though  he  allowed  that  their  talk  was  foul  to  a 
degree.  Of  their  darker  vices  he  says  nothing.1  Though 
often  drunk,  they  were  never  quarrelsome  in  their  cups. 

On  the  other  hand,  their  pride  was  disgusting.  The 
traveller  himself  experienced  this ;  he  was  also  a  witness 
of  their  insulting  behaviour  towards  Yaroslav  of  Vladimir, 
titular  chief2  of  the  Russian  princes,  towards  a  son  of  the 
King  and  Queen  of  Georgia,  towards  the  Prince  of  the 
Solangi  (of  Korea  and  Manchuria),  and  towards  many  great 
Sultans  of  Islam.  The  deceitfulness  of  the  Tartars  in  their 
dealings  with  other  nations  was  inexpressible  ;  bland  at  first, 
they  usually  sought  to  circumvent  with  cunning,  and  if  this 
did  not  succeed,  they  would  bite  like  scorpions.     They  were 


1  Cf.  Dollinger,  Heidentlmm  it. 
Christenthum ,  bk.  ix.  section  L,  sub- 
section ii.,  quoting  Sylv.  de  Sacy, 
Journal  des  Savants.  June  1829,  p. 
331,  on  the  Uzbeg  descendants  of 
the  'conquering  hordes'  ofGhenghiz 


and  Tinmr. 

2  After  the  earlier  fall  of  Kiev 
1169,  and  still  more  after  the  Mongol 
sack  of  1240,  Vladimir  became  the 
chief  of  the  Russian  principalities,  in 
rivalry  with  Suzdal. 


286  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

abominably  dirty  and  foul  in  their  habits ;  avaricious,  in- 
solent, and  untiring  beggars,  when  they  had  got  hold  of  a 
wealthy  stranger ;  and  yet  mean  and  niggardly  hosts  withal. 
At  times,  when  pressed  by  hunger,  as  in  the  siege  of  a 
certain  city  in  Cathay,  these  Tartars  would  eat  human  flesh  ; 
but  in  general  they  could  live  on  incredibly  little,  and  there 
was  nothing  too  loathsome  for  them  to  devour.  They  were 
so  stingy  that  they  would  not  even  throw  bones  to  their  dogs 
till  they  had  sucked  out  the  marrow. 

Their  favourite  drink  was  mare's  milk — Kosmos  or 
Kumiss — with  a  kind  of  home-brewed  beer.  A  gruel  of 
millet  and  water  was  also  much  in  use  among  them,  and 
on  a  cup  or  two  of  this  they  would  go  for  the  rest  of  the 
day. 

For  adultery,  theft,  and  murder  among  their  own  tribes 
they  inflicted  death  ;  traitors  were  scourged,  even  the  greatest 
by  the  humblest ;  for  there  was  little  difference  in  honour 
between  one  Tartar  and  another ;  in  fact,  they  were  a  very 
pure  democracy,  tempered  only  by  military  organisation. 
From  this  last  came  their  excellent  archery  and  horseman- 
ship, the  result  of  incessant  practice  from  babyhood.  Even 
the  women  rode,  and  often  shot,  admirably,  using  short  stirrups 
like  the  men.  But  nearly  all  their  time  the  females  were 
employed  in  working  at  the  clothing,  furniture,  and  leathern 
goods  of  their  lords.  The  peaceful  occupation  of  the  men 
was  herding,  and  little  else.  They  made  use  of  a  breed  of 
swift  camels,  both  wild  and  tame  (ancestors  of  the  present 
stock  of  Central  Asia),  whose  speed  astonished  the  Friar, 
and  has  since  become  proverbial.1 

Carpini  next  takes  us  through  the  history,  ethnology,  and 
geography  of  the  Tartar  races.     He  tells  us  that  the  land  of 

1  Especially   since    the    discoveries    of    Prejevalski.       Cf.    the    stories    of 
Petachia  on  the  -wild  camel. 


V.]  HISTORY    OF    TARTAR    CONQUESTS  287 

Mongol  or  Mongol,  'in  the  Eastern  parts'  of  the  world,  had 
four  chief  divisions.  These  were  the  countries  of  the  Yeka, 
or  Great  Mongols ;  of  the  Su,  or  Riverine  Mongols,  '  from  a 
stream  in  that  land  called  Tartar ; ' l  and  of  the  Mekrit  and 
Merkit  Mongols,  who  inhabited  the  Baikal  basin. 

All  these  tribes  were  essentially  one ;  but,  to  speak 
precisely,  Ghenghiz  Khan  belonged  to  the  Yeka.  He  first 
conquered  the  other  Mongols  and  then  the  Kara-Khitai, 
Uigurs,  and  Naimans.  After  the  subjugation  of  the  semi- 
civilised  and  partly  Nestorian  '  Huiur ' 2  the  victors  adopted 
the  script  of  the  conquered,  and  pushed  on  to  the  subjugation 
of  the  Romans,  of  the  Kirghiz  Steppes,  and  of  South  Eussia, 
on  one  side,  and  of  the  Kitai,  Khitai,  or  people  of  North 
China,  on  the  other.  In  the  last-named  region  there  was 
fabulous  wealth ;  silver  was  used,  when  stones  were  scarce, 
for  missiles,  and  the  civilisation,  literature,  and  religion  of  the 
people  was  a  thing  to  study.  '  For  it  is  said  they  have  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  the  Lives  of  the  Fathers,  houses 
like  churches,  stated  times  of  prayer,  saints  and  hermits.' 
They  worshipped  one  God,  honoured  Christianity  and  its 
Scriptures,  gave  alms,  believed  in  Eternal  Life,  and  though 
baptizing  little,  were  of  a  gentle  and  humane  disposition. 
In    appearance,   they   were    somewhat    like    the    Mongols, 


1  Cf.  M.  Paris,  Cronica  Majora, 
a.d  1234  '  dicti  Tartari  a  Tar  flumine 
.  .  .  habentes  ducem  nomine  Caan.' 
Avezac  divides  the  Tartars  into  three 
main  groups — (1)  Tunguses  to  the 
east  and  north-east;  (2)  Mongols 
in  the  middle ;  (3)  Turks  in  the 
west. 

The  Mongols'  original  home  was  in 
the  Mountains  of  Burqan  Qaldun 
and  the  country  between  the  Baikal 
and  the  Upper  Amur.     The  Empire 


Dynasty  from  North  China  in  the 
twelfth  century)  roughly  answered  to 
the  modern  Eastern  or  Chinese 
Turkestan,  the  Russian  Province  of 
Semiretchensk,  and  the  basin  of 
the  Chu  ;  the  Naimaus  occupied  the 
modern  north-west  Mongolia.  Omyl, 
Imil,  or  Emil  is  perhaps  the  modern 
Chuguchak,  near  Lake  Ala-Kul,  in 
the  extreme  north-west  corner  of 
'  Mongolia,'  and  just  inside  the 
Russian  frontier. 


of  the    Kara-Khitai  (arising  out   of  ,        -  Uigurs;  mainly  within  the  Kara- 
the  expulsion  ol  the  Kitai  or  Khitai       Khitai  realm. 


288  DIPLOxMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

beardless  and  broad  in  face ;  their  language  was  quite 
peculiar.  The)'  were  unsurpassed  artificers,  and  their  land 
was  rich  in  corn,  wine,  gold,  silver,  and  silk. 

Carpini  adds  some  rather  legendary  details  of  the 
Mongol  conquest  of  'Lesser  India'"  and  of  the  'Black 
Saracens  called  iEthiops  ' ;  of  the  Tartar  repulse  from  '  Great 
India '  by  the  Christian  warriors  of  Prester  John,  aided  by 
Greek  Fire ;  and  of  the  monstrous  races  of  men-women  and 
dog-shaped  folk  reported  from  distant  parts  of  Asia.  Similar 
fables  he  repeats  about  the  Adamant  Mountains 1  in  the 
Caucasus  or  '  Caspian '  range ;  about  the  cloud-concealed 
natives  long  imprisoned  in  the  bowels  of  the  hills ;  and 
about  the  Troglodytic  races,  who  fought  the  Tartars  by 
underground  passages,  and  lived  in  terror  of  the  mysterious 
and  fatal  sound  which  accompanied  the  rising  of  the  sun. 

Ghenghiz  Khan,  proceeds  Carpini  more  justly,  was  not 
only  a  conqueror,  but  an  organiser  and  lawgiver.  He  ordained 
that  his  successors  must  be  elected  by  a  proper  Kuriltai  or 
Meeting  of  Chiefs  ;  that  any  pretender  to  the  throne  not  so 
elected  was  to  suffer  death ;  that  the  conquest  of  the  whole 
world  was  to  be  steadily  pursued ;  and  that  their  army  was 
to  have  a  definite  organisation  by  tens,  hundreds,  thousands, 
and  tens  of  thousands.  Further,  the  Great  Khan  divided  his 
empire  into  provinces,  and  fixed  the  location  of  each  general 
or  prince  in  command ;  these  princes  fixed  the  station  of 
the  chief  officers ;  the  chief  officers  did  the  same  with  their 
inferiors ;  and  so  on.  Throughout  all  the  Tartar  posts 
reigned  implicit  obedience,  in  death  or  life,  in  peace  or 
war. 

The  Great  Khan  enjoyed  many  special  privileges — as  to 
his  harem  ;  as  to  his  posts  and  messengers  (who  everywhere 
and   at  all  times  could  requisition  horses  and  provisions) ; 

1  Discovered,  he  says,  by  Ghenghiz  himself. 


V.l  HISTORY    OF    TARTAR    CONQUESTS  289 

and,  in  general,  as  to  the  property  of  his  subjects  throughout 
his  dominions.  For,  in  the  last  resort,  everything  belonged 
to  the  successor  of  Ghenghiz.  One  of  the  most  valuable  of 
his  perquisites  was  the  tribute  of  brood-mares  paid  to  him 
by  all  the  chiefs. 

On  his  accession  the  new  Khan  Okkodai  followed  his 
father's  counsel  by  attacking  the  Saracen  Romans  and  the 
Mussulmans  of  Khwarezm1  or  Khiva,  Turcomania,  and 
Eastern  Persia ;  the  work  of  Ghenghiz  was  vigorously 
carried  forward ;  and  his  children  soon  captured  the 
famous  merchant  cities  of  Barchin,  Iamkint,  Ornas,  and 
others  in  the  Aralley  of  the  Jaxartes  or  Syr  Daria. 

Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  old  life  and  prosperity  of  Central 
Asia  was  blotted  out.  The  Pagan  Turks  were  next  con- 
quered, and  then  the  Eussian  principalities,  where  the 
slaughter  was  terrible,  especially  at  the  '  metropolis '  of  Kiev. 
In  his  journey  through  this  country  Carpini  passed  by 
countless  skulls  and  bones,  and  saw  for  himself  that  the 
once  great  and  populous  Mother  of  Eussian  cities  had 
scarce  two  hundred  houses  left.  Hence  the  devastation 
spread  to  Poland  and  Hungary;  to  the  land  of  the 
heathen  and  Moslem  Finns  and  Turks  in  the  Middle  Volga 
basin,  the  Mordvinians,  the  Bulgarians,2  and  the  Bashkirs : 

1  The     Khwarezm     Shah     is    the   |  mother  -  country ;    his   'Great  Hun- 


'  Altisoldanus  '  of  Carpini.  This 
Kingdom,  centring  in  Khorasm(ia) 
or  Khiva  on  the  Lower  Oxns,  at  the 
opening  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
had    extinguished    the     Seljuk    do- 


gary  '  was  the  land  of  the  Bashkirs. 
He  evidently  knows  little  or  nothing 
about  the  Parossit*,  who  were  said  to 
live  by  the  smell  of  cooked  meat. 
But  he  is  quite  correct  in  thinking 


minion  except  in  Asia  Minor,  and  !  that  the  Samoyedes'  tents  and  clothes 
extended  over  all  modern  Persia,  |  were  of  beasts'  skins.  As  to  the  dog- 
Afghanistan,  Baluchistan,  most  of  I  faced  men,  and  the  story  that  they 
Russian  Central  Asia,  and  much  of  !  spoke  two  words  in  human  fashion 
Trans-Caucasia.  and  barked  for  the  third,   Carpini  is 

2  Carpini  evidently  considers,  and      careful   to  mention    this   only  as    a 
rightly,  that  Great  Bulgaria,  near  the   |  common  tale, 
modern    Kazan,    was    the    Bulbars'    i 


290 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


and  even  to  the  half-fabulous  Parossits,  the  Samoyedes,  and 
the  dog-faced,  ox-footed  monsters  of  the  far  North. 

In  or  near  Armenia  the  conquering  Mongols  found,  as 
some  asserted,  a  still  more  wonderful  race — one-footed  and 
one-armed,  with  a  hand  in  the  middle  of  their  breast,  but 
possessed  of  matchless  speed.  These  folk,  when  tired  of 
hopping  on  their  single  feet,  whirled  themselves  round  and 
round.1  Armenia,  Georgia,  and  the  Seljuk  Sultanate  of  Eum 
or  Asia  Minor,  whose  capital  was  at  Iconium  or  Koniyeh, 
were  all  overrun  and  placed  under  tribute,  as  was  the  land 
of  the  Bagdad  Caliph.  This  great  potentate  was  now  bound 
to  go  humbly  to  the  Mongol  Court  and  pay  his  respects  every 
year. 

Except  in  the  case  of  the  rout  of  the  entire  army,  those 
Tartars  who  lied  in  battle,  or  failed  to  follow  their  leaders, 
were  put  to  death.  In  every  company  of  ten,  each  was 
responsible  for  the  rescue  of  any  messmate  taken  prisoner. 
Their  weapons  were  bows,  arrows,  lances,  and  hand-axes, 
with  leathern  or  iron  shields,  breast-plates,  and  greaves. 
The  horses  also  had  body  armour.  The  military  ruses  and 
ambushes  of  the  Mongols  were  infinite  ;  their  scouting  system 
most  efficient ;  their  rafts  (for  crossing  rivers)  ingenious 
beyond  what  one  might  have  expected  in  so  rude  a  people. 
Their  simulated  retreats,  their  dummy  warriors  dressed  to 
represent  real  men  and  horses,  their  distant  and  '  back- 
shooting'  archery,  their  tactics  in  drawing  on,  entrapping, 
surrounding,  or  pursuing  the  foe — all  these  well  deserved 
Carpini's  clear  description  and  enthusiastic  praise.  Not  less 
notable  were  their  siege  tactics ;  mining  and  flooding,  batter- 
ing machines,  Greek  Fire,  and  other  devices,2  if  unsuccessful, 


1  Here  the  believing  spirit  might 
gratefully  recognise  the  Cyclopodes 
of  Isidore. 


2  E.g.  Arvinam  hominum  lique- 
faetam,  poured  in  torrents  upon  the 
besieged, 


V.]  THE    TARTARS    IN    WAR;    THEIR    DEVICES  29  1 

the}7  supplemented  by  the  most  rigid  blockade.  Nowhere 
had  their  perfidy  and  cruelty  been  more  shown  than  at  the 
surrender  of  towns,  where  no  treaty  bound  them ;  and  they 
only  admitted  in  fact,  whatever  they  might  pretend  in  theory, 
an  unconditional  surrender.  Some  nations  talked  of  having 
peace  and  treaties  with  them,  but  that  was  absurd,  for  they 
really  made  peace  with  no  one,  except  on  absolute  sub- 
mission. Once  their  vassals,  men  were  forced  to  fight  for 
them,  and  all  promises  of  good  treatment  became  empty 
words.  Thus,  while  Carpini  was  in  Eussia,  he  witnessed  the 
merciless  exactions  of  a  Saracen  envoy  of  Kuyuk  and  Batu, 
who  was  levying  a  poll  tax  l  and  impressing  troops  for  his 
masters. 

Their  vassal  princes,  forced  to  make  the  terrible  journey 
to  the  Great  Khan's  Horde  or  Court  in  Mongolia  itself, 
were  lucky  if  they  escaped  with  insults.  Sometimes  they 
were  poisoned,  sometimes  executed  on  false  charges,  their 
sons  and  daughters  retained  as  hostages  in  perpetual  cap- 
tivity. The  traveller  saw  this  treatment  inflicted  on  Yaro- 
slav  of  Russia,  as  well  as  on  a  prince  of  the  Alans  and  a 
prince  of  the  Solangi.  The  property  inherited  by  such  a 
hostage  on  the  death  of  his  father  was  rarely  suffered  to 
come  into  his  possession. 

In  all  states  laid  under  tribute,  a  Mongol  Prefect  (or 
'  Baschat ' )  was  the  real  ruler,  and  in  such  states  number- 
less extortions  were  practised  by  individual  Tartars.  A 
city  in  Russia  had  been  lately  destroyed  for  opposing  the 
orders  of  a  Prefect  of  this  kind.  All  lawsuits  between  the 
tributary  princes  had  to  be  decided  at  the  Great  Khan's 
Horde.     A  recent  case  of  this  was  the  well-known  success 

1  Viz.  on  each  household  one  I  black  iltis,  one  black  fox.  Shivery 
white  bear's  skin,  one  black  beaver,  was  the  only  alternative  to  pay- 
one  black   '  zabulvm '  or  zibelin,  one    |    ment, 


292 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


[Cir. 


of  Prince  David  of  Georgia,  a  son  of  adultery,  who,  by 
appeal  to  the  Mongol  Court  at  Syra  Orda,  had  ousted 
Melic,  the  rightful  heir. 

Carpini  adds  a  list  of  more  than  forty  peoples  or 
countries1  who  had  fallen  victims  to  the  Mongol  armies, 
and  of  some  others  which  up  to  that  time  had  manfully  and 
with  success  resisted  them.  Unquestionably  these  scourges 
of  Heaven  intended,  if  possible,  to  conquer  the  entire  world, 
literally  and  absolutely,  according  to  the  will  of  Ghenghiz 
and  the  style  of  the  Great  Khan's  seal :  '  Kuyuk  the  strength 
of  God  :  God  in  Heaven  and  Kuyuk  Khan  on  earth  ;  the  seal 
of  the  Lord  of  cdl  men.'  Already  they  had  conquered  the 
whole  earth,  outside  Christendom,  and  Christians  might  be 
sure  that  their  time  was  coming.  Even  while  Carpini  was  in 
Mongolia,  Kuyuk  raised  his  banner  against  the  Church  of 
God  and  the  Eoman  Empire.  There  could  be  no  mistake 
what  was  involved  in  the  Tartar  Conquest — it  was  unheard- 


1  These  were — (1)  the  Khitai,  Kitai, 
or  inhabitants  of  North  China ;  (2)  the 
Naiman(s),  or  people  of  north-west 
Mongolia  ;  (3)  Solangi  of  Korea  and 
Manchuria  ;  (4)  Sarihuiur  ;  (5)  Bash- 
kirs, Bashkirts,  or  '  Bascarts  of  Great 
Hungary' ;  (6)  Parossits;  (7)  Cassi; 
(8)  Jacobitae,  Jacobites,  or  heretical 
Christians  of  various  Asiatic  conn- 
tries  ;  (9)  Mordni  or  Mordvinians  of 
the  Middle  Volga  ;  (10)  Samogedae  or 
Samoyedes  of  the  Petchora  country  ; 
(11)  Kara-khitai  or  'Black  Chinese' 
of  Turkestan  ;  (12)  Komans  ;  (13) 
Tumat  ;  (14)  Kergis  or  Kirghiz, 
extending  from  the  Angara  to  the 
Altai;  (15)  Casmir  or  Kashmir ;  (16) 
Saracens  of  Persia,  etc.;  (17)  Alans 
or  Assi  of  Modern  South  Russia ; 
(18)  Georgians  or  Obesi  of  Tifiis, 
etc. ;  (19)  Nestorians  ;  (20)  Turks  ; 
(21)  Perses  or  Persians  ;  (22)  Voyrat; 
(23)  Kara-nitai  ;  (24)  Huyur,  Huiuri, 


or  Uigurs  ;  (25)  Bisermins  or  Moslems 
of  Turkestan  and  North  Persia  ;  (26) 
Turcomans,  of  the  Akhal  Tekke 
region,  etc.  ;  (27)  Bileri,  or  'Great 
Bulgarians '  of  the  middle  Volga,  the 
later  Kazan  and  its  neighbourhood; 
(28)  Cangitae  or  Canglae;  (29)  Khazars 
or  Gazari  of  Modern  South  -  East 
Russia  ;  (30)  Tarci ;  (31)  Su  Mongol ; 
(32)  Merki(t)  Mongol  ;  (33)  Mekrit 
Mongol  ;  (34)  Corola  ;  (35)  Comuci ; 
(36)  Burithabet;  (37)  Comani  (?  re) ; 
(38)  Brutachi  (Jews);  (39)  India 
Minor  or  iEthiopia ;  (40)  Circassians; 
(41)  Kutheni  or  Russians;  (42)  Bal- 
dach  or  Bagdad  ;  (43)  Sarti  or  Sarts 
of  Western  Turkestan. 

Carpini's  prophecies  were  not 
wholly  unfounded  ;  it  was  the  con- 
quest of  China  and  Persia  that  most 
effectually  diverted  the  Tartar  deluge 
from  Europe  in  the  generation  suc- 
ceeding his  journey  of  1245-6-7, 


V.j  CARPINIS    WARNINGS    TO    EUROPE  293 

of  misery,  starvation,  and  insult,  such  as  was  faintly  tasted 
by  the  wretched  envoys  who  had  gone  from  Europe  to  the 
Mongol  Courts. 

Carpini  ends  this  part  of  his  work  by  prophesying  that 
Livonia  and  Prussia  will  be  the  first  attacked ;  by  warning 
every  Christian  king  and  nation  to  make  common  cause 
against  '  these  devils ' ;  by  promising  success  to  a  vigorous 
and  united  resistance  ;  and  by  detailing  various  suggestions 
as  to  the  arms,  discipline,  fortifications,  and  military  ruses 
most  useful  in  combating  them.  He  then  passes  to  the 
record  of  his  journey,  perhaps  the  longest  continuous  piece 
of  land-travel  accomplished  by  any  European  up  to  this  time. 

Carpini's  route  was  by  the  Northern  Way  from  Latin 
Europe  to  the  Mongol  Headquarters.  After  quitting  Lyons, 
on  the  16th  of  April  1245,  he  first  tells  us  of  his  arrival  at 
the  Court  of  Bohemia.  Here  the  King,  Wenceslas  I.,  an  old 
friend  and  patron  of  the  traveller's,  advised  him  about  the 
next  stages  of  his  journey ;  recommended  him  to  go  forward 
by  way  of  Poland  and  Eussia  ;  and  promised  the  assistance 
of  various  people  of  importance  in  the  former  country, 
relations  of  his  own,  whose  aid  would  be  effective  in  all  the 
countries  of  the  Eastern  Slavs.1  Furnished  with  letters  and 
an  escort,  as  well  as  fresh  supplies  of  money,  the  friar  now 
pushed  on  from  Bohemia  to  Silesia,  where  he  was  received 
by  Duke  Boleslav,  a  nephew  of  Wenceslas,  and  himself  a 
personal  acquaintance  of  John  de  Piano's.  This  prince, 
like  his  uncle,  forwarded  the  mission  in  every  way,  welcomed 
the  legates  at  his  Court  in  Lignitz,  and  helped  them  on  to 
the    borders    of    Conrad,    Duke    of    Lenczy,    his    immediate 


1  Of.  pp.  733,  734  of  Carpini's  text, 
Avezac's  edition,  in  vol.  iv.  of  the 
Paris  Geographical  Society's  Recueilde 


voyages  et  de  mimoires ;  all  references 
are  to  this  edition. 


294  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

neighbour  on  the  south-east,  then  resident  in  Cracow.1 
There,  Carpini  tells  us — apparently  intending  his  readers 
to  understand  the  palace,  castle,  or  dwelling  in  which  this 
Duke  Conrad  greeted  the  embassy — a  providential  meeting 
occurred.  '  Vassilko,'  Duke  of  '  Russia/  had  just  arrived, 
and  from  him  the  Latin  envoys  were  able  to  gain  much 
valuable  information  about  the  Tartars.  His  brother 
Daniel  had  just  applied  for,  and  obtained,  a  safe  conduct  for 
a  journey-  to  the  camp  of  Batu ; 2  and  he  warned  the  new- 
comers to  be  under  no  illusions.  Any  one  who  wished  to 
travel  among  the  Tartars  must  have  rich  presents,  and  must 
expect  to  be  persecuted  with  demands ;  the  '  give,  give '  of 
the  horse-leech  was  the  ISTomade  method  of  dealing  with 
all  visitors ;  no  business  could  be  done,  and  no  respectful 
treatment  could  be  secured,  without  compliance  in  this 
custom. 

The  Eussian  princes  here  noticed  were  both  on  Carpini's 
further  route  between  Cracow  and  the  Volga.  '  Vassilko,' 
otherwise  Vassili  or  Basil,  '  Duke '  of  Vladimir  and  Volhynia, 
(1214-1271),  and  Danil  or  Daniel,  '  Duke '  of  Galicia  (1228- 
12G4),  had  first  struggled  bravely  against  the  Mongol  deluge, 
and  then  bowed  to  the  inevitable,  hoping  by  diplomacy  to 
recover  a  little  of  what  they  had  lost  in  war.  Daniel 
especially  was  famous  for  his  valour  at  the  fatal  battle  of  the 
Kalka  (13th  May  1223),  and  for  his  later  negotiations  with 
the  Papacy.  Herein  he  followed  the  example  of  his  father, 
Roman  of  Vladimir,  with  a  similar  result.  For  as  he 
wished  for  military  aid  against  the  Tartar  rather  than  any 
ecclesiastical  benefits,  and  as  Innocent  IV.  had  only  a  kingly 
title  and  spiritual  favours,  but  no  troops,  to  bestow,  the  life 
faded  out  of  the  hopes  which  Carpini  had  excited  or  afforded, 

1   Pages  734-6  of  Carpini's  text  in  the  Recueil. 
-  Pages  735-6  of  Carpini. 


v-l  CARPINI  S    ROUTE    FROM    BOHEMIA    TO    KIEV       295 

and  the  promises  which  he  had  lavished,  in  his  eagerness  to 
see  the  Russians  march  under  the  Papal  Banner.  However 
futile  in  result,  it  was  probably  this  matter  which  mainly 
determined  Friar  John  to  take  the  northern  overland  route, 
in  preference  to  the  Mediteranean  and  Black  Sea  voyage 
enterprised  by  Kubruquis ;  but  neither  at  this  nor  at  any 
subsequent  time  was  a  permanent  understanding  effected 
between  the  Eastern  Slavs  and  the  Church  of  Home. 

In  deference  to  Vassilko's  advice,  the  Latin  envoys, 
before  leaving  Cracow,  purchased  or  procured  beaver  skins 
and  other  furs,  current  as  money  in  some  of  the  regions  of 
their  future  wanderings,  and  essential  as  aids  to  diplomacy 
among  the  Mongols ; a  under  the  escort  of  Duke  Basil  they 
passed  on  into  Ked  Eussia  ;  and  here  their  host,  in  deference 
to  a  suggestion  from  his  visitors,  summoned  the  bishops  of 
his  jurisdiction  to  hear  the  letters  of  the  Pope  and  confer 
upon  the  question  of  reunion.  The  Apostolic  Briefs  very 
strongly  urged  the  Separatists  to  return  to  the  One  Fold  ;  and 
Carpini  added  arguments  of  his  own,  until  he  thought  his 
hearers  were  almost  persuaded;  but  the  end  was,  as  usual, 
evasion  and  postponement.  The  Parssians  would  give  an 
answer  when  Daniel  came  back  from  Batu's  Camp  ;  as  to 
what  their  Roman  friend  had  said,  it  was  too  important  to  be 
decided  off-hand. 

"With  a  '  Piuthenian  '  guide  Carpini  now  pushed  on  to 
Kiev.2  In  his  company  were  two  other  friars  who  had 
joined  him  on  the  way — Brother  Benedict  in  Poland,3  and 
Brother  Stephen  in  Bohemia ;  from  the  former  of  these  we 
have  a  summary  of  the  journey  which  in  a  few  points  is  a 
useful  supplement  to  John  de  Piano's  own  record.     Arriving 

1  Page  735  of  Carpini.  774-779   of  the   text  in    the  llccueil 

2  Page  736  of  Carpini.  of    tlie    Paris    Geographical   Society, 
:t  Benediet's    additional    narrative       vol.   is-,  edition    Avezac.     See   pages 

of    tlie    Carpini    mission   is   on    pp.       390-1,  note  of  this  vol. 


296  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

on  the  Dniepr  after  a  trying  march,  the  legates  found  the  whole 
country  wasted  and  desolate,  emptied  of  its  men  (whom  the 
Mongols  had  killed  or  enslaved),  and  overrun  by  Lithuanian 
brigands.  Only  the  '  metropolis '  itself,  the  '  Court  of  the 
Golden  Heads,'  so  terribly  sacked  in  1240,  seemed  to  show  a 
certain,  though  attenuated,  survival  of  settled  life;  and  here, 
on  the  edge  of  the  wilderness,  where  no  more  towns  could  be 
looked  for,  Friar  John  took  counsel  with  a  Tartar  '  millen- 
arius,'  or  chief-of-brigade;  and  received  an  emphatic  warning 
about  his  further  journey.  Only  with  Tartar  horses  could 
he  hope  to  accomplish  the  enormous  stages  which  lay  before 
him,  '  for  they  alone  could  find  grass  under  the  snow,  or  live, 
as  animals  must  in  Tartary,  without  hay  or  straw.' l  This 
advice  appeared  sound  enough  ;  for  the  Europeans  were 
beginning  to  discover  that  only  Tartar  bodies  could  stand 
the  fatigue  and  hunger  of  the  route.  Already,  at  Danilovka 
in  the  Ukraine,  Carpini  had  almost  died  from  the  privations 
which  ultimately  killed  him,  and  had  made  them  carry  him 
in  a  cart  through  the  deep  snow  and  intense  cold,  '  so  as  not 
to  hinder  the. business  of  Christendom' ;  but  he  was  partially 
restored  by  the  halt  at  Kiev ;  and  on  the  4th  of  February, 
1246,  he  was  able  to  start  again.'2  His  course  nowT  lay  down 
the  Dniepr,  and  leaving  the  heights  from  which  the  half- 
ruined  city  of  Saints 3  looked  over  the  great  stream,  he  made 
his  way  to  Kanov,  or  Kaniev,  one  hundred  versts  nearer 
the  sea,  where  the  country  was  under  the  immediate  rule 
of  the  Tartars.  Still  following  the  course  of  the  river  to 
the  south-east,  Friar  John  soon  came  to  another  hamlet, 
where  ruled  a  certain  Alan,  named  Micheas,  who  represented 
the  Mongol  chiefs  in  this  part.  He  was  a  man  full  of  all 
malice  and  iniquity,  who  had  before  now  sent  to  Kiev  some 
of  his  body-guard  to  induce  the  envoys  to  come  to  him  on 
1   Pages  736-737  of  Carpini.         2  Page  737  of  Carpini.         3  See  page  391. 


v-]  PROM    KIEV    TO    THE    VOLGA  297 

the  way,  falsely  pretending  that  these  were  the  officers  of 
Kurancha  or  Gorenza,  his  superior  officer.  His  sole  motive, 
of  course,  was  to  extort  presents,  and  having  entrapped  the 
strangers,  he  squeezed  them  unmercifully ;  as  a  small  com- 
pensation, he  put  them  forward  on  their  journey  to  the  next 
stage,  where  Carpini  places  the  first  encampment  of  the 
Tartars,  and  where  the  visitors  painfully  endured  the  extor- 
tions and  insolence  of  these  barbarians  and  their  maddening 
curiosity.1  The  utter  indifference  of  the  Nomades  to  Papal 
Legates,  Papal  Letters,  or  even  the  Papal  Name,  pained  and 
astonished  the  writer,  who  ineffectually  declared  to  a  scorn- 
ful and  suspicious  auditory  the  earnest  wish  of  the  Eoman 
Pontiff  for  peace  between  Christians  and  Tartars,  for  the 
conversion  of  the  heathen,  and  for  the  cessation  of  the 
Mongol  attacks  upon  Poles,  Hungarians,  Moravians,  and 
other  peoples  of  Western  Europe.  The  result  of  this  oration 
was  a  renewed  demand  for  presents,  and  the  loan  of  a  guide 
and  pack-horses  to  the  encampment  of  Kurancha.-  This  per- 
sonage was  the  highest  in  power  of  any  of  the  Tartar  officers 
whom  the  envoys  had  encountered  ;  he  was  in  supreme 
command  of  the  forces  on  the  western  frontier,  and  had  under 
him  sixty  thousand  men,  wherewith  to  repel  any  sudden 
attack  from  the  side  of  Europe  ;  but  he  was  subordinate  to 
Batu,  whose  only  superior  was  the  Grand  Khan  himself.  He 
would  not  allow  the  new-comers  to  pitch  their  tents  close  to 
him,  and  sent  his  slave-stewards  to  find  out  what  presents 
he  might  expect.  Like  Micheas,  his  demands  rose  with 
compliance,  but  at  last  he  appeared  to  be  satisfied,  and 
Carpini  was  admitted  to  his  presence.  At  the  entrance  the 
friar  was  instructed  to  bend  the  left  knee  three  times,  to 
avoid  touching  the  threshold  with  bis  foot,  and  to  explain  the 
object  of  his  journey  before  the  Mongol  general  and  the 
1  Page  738  of  Carpini.  -  Page  739  of  Carpini. 


298  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

other  nobles  who  had  assembled  to  hear  his  declaration. 
Kneeling,  he  presented  the  Papal  Letters,  but  the  interpreter 
from  Kiev  proved  almost  useless,  and  as  no  one  else  more 
competent  appeared,  the  Briefs  had  to  remain  unexplained 
and  untranslated.1  The  Legate,  however,  contrived  to  express 
his  wants,  and  with  fresh  guides  and  horses  he  resumed  his 
journey  for  the  camp  of  Batu  on  the  26th  of  February,  1246. 
Kurancha's  '  Horde '  was  probably  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  present  Ekaterinoslav,  and  we  know  from  Carpini  himself 
that  its  station  was  on  the  western  side  of  the  Dniepr.  All 
this  time,  therefore,  the  mission  had  been  following  the 
'  Borysthenes,'  in  its  south-easterly  trend  as  far  as  the 
celebrated  rapids ;  now  the  route  changed  to  a  direction 
almost  due  east,  and  the  travellers  struck  across  to  the  head 
of  the  Sea  of  Azov,  and  crossed  the  Don  near  its  mouth,  some- 
where about  the  site  of  the  present  Rostov.  Thence  to  Batu's 
Court,  'on  the  border  of  the  Koman  country,'  the  way  was 
east-north-east  until  the  Lower  Volga,  about  one  hundred 
miles  above  Astrakhan,  was  reached.2 

Going  as  fast  as  the  horses  could  trot,  and  changing  them 
three  or  four  times  a  day,  the  envoys  rode  on  from  morn  to 
night  (and  often  through  a  great  part  of  the  night  itself),  till 
Wednesday  in  Holy  Week,  the  4th  of  April.  Meanwhile 
they  were  traversing  the  country  of  the  Komans,  the  steppe- 
zone  between  the  Ukraine  and  the  Aral  Sea,  watered  by  four 
great  rivers,  to  the  first  three  of  which  Carpini  gives  the 
Slavonic 3  names  of  '  Neper,'  Don,  and  Volga.  In  this  point 
he  shows  an  advanced  accuracy  ;  even  Rubruquis,  who  is  so 
much  fuller  and  so  often  more  precise,  is  here  wanting ;  but 
Friar  John  had  the  advantage  of  Russian  guides,  while  his 

1  Pages  740-742  of  Carpini.  j    or  'Cotton'  Map  of  c.  990.     This  is 

-  Pages  742-744  of  Carpini.  j    the  earliest  West  European  notice  of 

:;   'Neper' is  in  the 'Anglo-Saxon'        any  of  these  names. 


v-]  FROM    KIEV    TO    THE    VOLGA  299 

great  rival,  from  choice  or  necessity,  is  here  dependent  on  his 
classical  knowledge,  and  so  can  supply  nothing  but  an  echo 
of  the  old  confused  nomenclature.  The  new  terms  not  only 
bring  us  in  touch  with  the  modern  world,  but  bring  us  into 
an  atmosphere  of  comparative  certainty  and  precision.1 

First  of  all,  the  traveller  approaching  from  the  west 
crossed  the  Borysthenes  of  the  ancients,  the  Neper  of  the 
men  of  Kiev,  on  whose  banks  were  two  large  Mongol  bivouacs, 
that  of  Kurancha  to  the  west  and  that  of  Mauci  to  the  east. 
The  latter  was  the  second  son  of  Chagatai  Khan,  and  so  a 
grandson  of  Ghengbiz  himself  ;  and  Carpini  had  good  cause 
to  remember  his  name,  for  he  caused  the  embassy  more  grief 
and  trouble  than  any  other  of  the  Tartar  magnates.  Second 
of  the  great  prairie-streams  was  the  Tanais  or  Don,  the 
accepted  boundary,  from  the  early  days  of  Greek  geography, 
between  Europe  and  Asia,  and  along  this  now  roamed  a 
Nomade  prince  named  Catan  (perhaps  the  Seated  of 
Rubruquis),  who  had  married  Batu's  sister.  Third,  still 
further  to  the  east,  came  the  Volga  (the  Rha  of  Ptolemy,  the 
Atil,  Athil,  Itil,  Etil,  or  Edil  of  most  mediaeval  geographers, 
the  Northern  Tigris  of  Roger  Bacon),  whose  vast  basin  was  the 
special  domain  of  Batu,  and  the  centre  of  the  Mongol  power 
in  the  West.  Fourth,  and  last,  was  the  Jagac,  Yaik,  or  Ural, 
on  each  bank  of  which  a  millenarius,  or  mingatan,  followed  a 
definite  beat  up  and  down  the  stream.  This  indeed  was  the 
practice  of  all  Tartar  officers  who  had  to  guard  the  courses 
of  these  rivers ;  in  winter  they  usually  moved  down  to 
the  sea,  while  in  summer  they  kept  more  towards  the  north 
and  the  '  mountains ' ;  perhaps  by  this  last  phrase  we  may 
understand  a  supposed  extension  of  the  Urals  to  the  west, 
till  they  s-ank  down  into  the  great  plain  of  the  German  and 
Baltic  lands.  It  is  Rubruquis,  and  not  Carpini,  who  makes 
1  Page  743  of  Carpini. 


300  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

the  Maeotid  marshes  of  the  North  (transferred  by  him  to 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  Baltic)  to  be  the  spring  and 
source  of  these  Euxine  and  Caspian  water-courses.1 

As  to  the  sea  which  receives  them,  John  de  Piano  vaguely 
imagines  it  to  be  all  one  and  the  same  '  Sea  of  Greece,'  or 
'  Greater  Sea,'  from  which  flowed  off  the  Bosphorus,  or  Strait 
of  St.  George,  to  the  city  of  Constantine ;  along  the  shore  of  this 
sea,  as  on  the  waters  of  the  Dniepr,  the  envoys  went  perilously 
over  the  ice  '  many  days  in  many  places '  ;  and  into  it  flowed, 
according  to  our  author,  Volga  and  Ural  as  well  as  Don  and 
Dneipr.  Thus  at  last,  after  uncounted  hardships,  the 
mission  arrived  at  Batu's  Horde,  which  then  seems  to  have 
been  encamped  very  near  the  mouth  of  the  Atil,  and  on  the 
left  or  eastern  bank  of  the  same,  perhaps  about  the  site  of  the 
modern  Krasnoi  Yar.  Here  they  had  to  endure  the  Nomade 
ceremony  of  purification,  and  to  pass  between  two  fires  ;  they 
were  not  allowed  to  pitch  their  tents  within  a  league  of  the 
Tartars ;  and  they  were  closely  questioned  by  Eldegai,  the 
'procurator'  or  'proctor'  of  Batu,  as  to  their  ability  to 
make  a  suitable  present,  as  to  the  motives  of  their  journey, 
and  as  to  their  credentials.  All  having  been  explained,  or 
taken  as  capable  of  honest  explanation,  the  envoys  were 
admitted  to  their  first  audience,  and  allowed  to  present  their 
letters,  to  make  a  formal  declaration  of  their  purposes,  and 
to  ask  for  interpreters.  This  request  was  granted  on  Good 
Friday,  the  6th  of  April,  1246  ;  translations  of  the  'commenda- 
tory' documents  were  made  into  Eussian,  Arabic,  and  Mongol ; 
and  a  copy  of  the  last  was  offered  to  Batu,  who  read  and 
noted  it  carefully,  but  neglected  to  pay  any  attention  to  the 
bodily  wants  of  his  unlucky  visitors.  Since  their  arrival  they 
had  only  been  able  to  procure  a  little  millet  in  a  bowl,  and 
1  Carpini,  p.  743  ;  cf.  Rubruquis,  p.  250. 


V.]  AT    BATU'S    COURT  301 

this  proved  but  a   foretaste  of  the  sufferings  that  awaited 
them.1 

The  ceremonial  of  Batu's  Court,  as  described  by  Carpini, 
was  a  good  example  of  the  rude  but  martial  splendour  that 
prevailed  in  the  Tartar  camps,  and  in  a  measure  survived 
until  the  extinction  of  Tartar  independence.  Like  the  Great 
Khan  himself,  the  Conqueror  of  Bussia  and  of  Hungary 
surrounded  his  presence  with  apparitors,  '  proctors,'  door- 
keepers, chamberlains,  and  all  the  state  of  Nomade  royalty ; 
his  throne  was  raised  above  all  else,  even  the  seats  of  his 
sons  and  brothers ;  to  these  last  a  bench  in  the  middle  of  the 
tent  was  allotted.  The  rest  of  the  people  sat  behind  them  on 
the  ground,  men  to  the  right,  women  to  the  left.  Among 
Batu's  possessions  were  some  large  and  handsome  linen 
pavilions,  trophies  of  the  Hungarian  campaign,  which  the 
Christian  visitors  could  not  have  inspected  without  bitter 
recollections  of  the  past  and  some  uneasiness  for  the  future. 
No  one  was  permitted  to  enter  the  presence  of  Batu,  unless 
he  were  an  attendant  or  specially  summoned  ;  the  envoys,  on 
being  introduced,  did  reverence,  and  were  then  placed  upon 
the  left  of  the  throne,  the  inferior  or  women's  side,  which  on 
their  return  from  the  Great  Khan  was  exchanged  for  the 
right  or  more  honourable  quarter.  Near  the  door  of  the 
audience  chamber  was  the  usual  table  with  gold  and  silver 
goblets  of  Kumiss  and  other  drinks,  and  whenever  the 
Prince  put  the  cup  to  his  lips  there  was  a  burst  of  song  and 
playing  on  guitars.  If  Batu  rode  in  public,  an  awning  or 
canopy  was  carried  over  his  head,  according  to  the  etiquette 
observed  with  all  the  members  of  the  House  of  Ghenghiz. 
The  great  general  was  kind  to  his  own  men,  but  they  held 
him  in  the  utmost  awe.  To  his  enemies  he  was  most  cruel 
and  dangerous,  for  in  him  were  united  craft  of  a  high  order 
1  Pases  743-745. 


302  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

and  long  experience  in  war.  To  the  Latin  visitors  he 
showed  himself,  if  not  a  generous  host,  at  least  an  affable 
and  easy  gaoler,  and  on  the  day  following  the  presentation  of 
the  Papal  Letters,  Carpini  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  the 
Court  of  Kuyuk  with  the  guides  he  had  obtained  at 
Kurancha's  Horde  (Easter  Eve,  7th  April).  Some  of  the 
mission  were  to  turn  back  and  return  to  Europe  with  the 
news  of  what  had  been  accomplished  up  to  that  time  ;  among 
these  was  probably  Stephen  of  Bohemia,  who  had  been  one 
of  the  chief  supports  of  Friar  John  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
the  journey.  It  does  not  appear  whether  the  Russian  in- 
terpreter from  Suzdal,  who  had  served  Carpini  with  unusual 
efficiency  at  Batu's  camp,  went  any  further  with  him. 
In  any  case,  none  of  those  who  now  started  on  their  return 
were  able  to  pass 1  the  line  guarded  by  Mauci  until  the  chief  of 
the  embassy  reappeared,  on  his  way  back  from  Mongolia  ; 
they  passed  a  wretched  time  of  expectation  and  anxiety  ; 
and  as  they  gradually  abandoned  hope  of  their  more  ad- 
vanced companions,  lost  in  the  deserts  of  Central  Asia, 
they  came  also  to  despair  of  their  own  deliverance.2 

On  Easter  Day  (8th  April  1246) 3  John  de  Piano,  with 
Benedict  the  Pole  and  the  rest  of  his  company,  started  on  the 
last  and  most  arduous  section  of  the  route,  lying  between  the 
Volga  and  the  Selenga  ;  '  and  most  tearfully  we  set  out,  not 
knowing  whether  it  was  for  life  or  for  death.'  The  travellers 
were  all  so  reduced  by  their  privations  that  hardly  a  man 
could  ride.  During  the  whole  of  Lent  their  food  had  been 
nothing  but  a  porridge  of  millet  and  water,  and  their  drink 
snow  melted  in  the  kettle.4 

At  this  point  Carpini  attempts  a  general  survey  of  the 


1  After  recrossing  the  Don. 

-  Carpini,  pp.  745-747. 

3  According   to    Benedict,    Easter 


Tuesday.  10th  April. 
4  Carpini,  p.  747, 


V]  THE    PEOPLES    OF    ROMANIA,    RUSSIA,    ETC.       303 

regions  adjoining  the  line  of  march  which  he  had  followed 
up  to  now,  and  these  countries  and  their  inhabitants  he 
classifies  according  to  climate  or  latitude.  On  the  whole,  the 
picture  he  thus  gives  us  is  clear  and  accurate,  and  speaks 
well  for  his  power  of  combining,  sifting,  and  presenting  a 
mass  of  detail  full  of  difficulty  and  bewilderment.  Be- 
ginning with  Romania,  which  occupied  the  entire  steppe  or 
prairie-zone  to  the  north  of  the  Euxine,  the  author  places 
behind  this  belt  of  land  three  rows  of  nations,  gradually 
nearing  the  Pole.  First,  reckoning  from  east  to  west,  was 
the  group  made  up  of  Russians,  Mordvins,  Bilers  of  Great 
Bulgaria,  and  Bascarts  or  Bashkirs,  all  inhabiting  what 
answers  roughly  to  the  Black-Earth  zone  immediately  north 
of  the  steppe  region.  Next  came  the  Parossits  and  Samo- 
yedes  dwelling  in  the  dense  forest  region  to  the  north  of  the 
fertile  corn-land  and  sparser  wood-country  of  the  south  ; 
while  north  of  these,  again,, were  the  dog-faced  men  on  the 
'  desert  shores '  of  the  Ocean,  wandering  over  the  open 
tundra,  in  the  neighbourhood  of,  and  even  beyond,  the 
Arctic  circle.1 

To  the  south  of  the  Koman  country  the  Friar  places, 
apparently  reckoning  from  east  to  west,  the  Caucasian  and 
Crimean  tribes,  and  the  nations  of  the  Northern  Black  Sea 
littoral — Alans,  Circassians,  Gazars  or  Khazars,  and  Greeks, 
as  well  as  Iberians,  Georgians,  Armenians,  and  Turks.  To 
these  well-known  names  he  adds  the  Zicci,  a  branch  of  the 
Circassians  or  Cherkesses,  in  the  Western  Caucasus;  the 
Cachs  or  Kakhetians  of  the  rich  vine-growing  country  east 
of  Tiflis ;  and  the  Brutachi,  who  were  said  to  be  Jews  and 
shaved  their  heads.  Piubruquis  and  Benjamin  of  Tudela 
also  confirm  this  very  ancient  and  interesting  tradition  of  a 
Caucasian  Israel,  referred  to  by  so  many  Jewish  writers,  and 
1  Oarpini,  pp.  747-74S, 


304  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

perhaps  derived  from  the  forcible  transplanting.?  of  Assyrian 
conquest.  Western  Europe  was  divided  from  Komania  by 
the  intervening  lands  of  the  Hungarians,  and  of  certain 
Eussians  (the  Euthenians  of  Galicia  are  evidently  in- 
tended) ;  it  was  a  very  long  country,  measured  as  it  lay 
between  the  rising  and  setting  sun  ;  and  the  envoys'  journey 
through  it  was  most  wearisome.  From  the  beginning  of 
Lent  till  the  eighth  day  after  Easter,  they  rode  on  at  high 
speed,  changing  horses  five  or  even  seven  times  a  day,  except 
in  those  waste  regions  where  such  frequent  relief  was  im- 
possible, and  where  stronger  horses  had  to  be  taken  for 
longer  periods.  All  the  natives  had  been  either  killed,  en- 
slaved, or  expelled  by  the  Tartars,  and  the  same  was  the  case 
in  the  next  land  traversed  by  the  mission.  This  was  the 
country  of  the  Kangitae,1  often  reckoned  as  a  part  of 
Komania,  where  the  same  nomade  life  and  the  same  Pagan 
religion  was  to  be  found,  where  a  terrible  scarcity  of  water 
prevailed,  and  where  the  wilderness,  without  tents  or  houses, 
was  only  marked  by  the  human  skulls  and  bones,  scattered 
upon  the  ground  like  cattle-dung.  Through  this  desolation 
(where  some  of  the  escort  of  the  Russian  Prince  Yaroslav 
had  lately  missed  their  way  and  died  of  thirst)  Carpini 
travelled  from  the  16th  of  April  to  the  middle  of  May,  when 
he  entered  a  land  of  '  Bisermins,'  or  Moslems.  Here  the 
Koman  language  was  still  prevalent,  but  the  people  held  the 
religion  of  the  Saracens.  Their  difference  of  faith  had  not 
saved  them  from  a  share  in  the  common  ruin  ;  everywhere 
the  visitors  passed  by  desolated  cities,  towns,  and  villages.2 
Friar  John  had  now  crossed  the  vast  plains  of  what  is 
called  by  modern  geography  the  Ural-Caspian  depression, 
from  the  basin  of  the  Volga  to  that  of  the  Syr  Daria,  and 
from  the  region  of  Pagan  tent-dwellers  to  the  country  of  the 
1  'Kanglae'  nf  Ruhrnquis.  2  Carpini,  pp.  748-7-49,  750. 


V.       FROM  THE  VOLGA  TO  THE  SYR  DARIA     305 

settled  Mohammedan  principalities  of  Central  Asia ;  but  he 
was  not  able  to  learn  the  name  of  the  great  river  along  which 
his  route  here  lay ;  and  he  only  records  a  few  names  of  cities 
and  sovereigns.  The  country  used  to  have  a  lord  who  was 
called  the  High  or  Supreme  Sultan  ; 1  but  he  was  killed  by 
the  Tartars  with  all  his  house,  and  the  writer  could  not  even 
discover  his  name.  In  his  place  the  Mongol  chiefs,  Buri  (or 
Burin)  and  Kadan,  sons  of  the  same  mother,2  ruled  the 
country  from  their  camps  near  the  borders  of  the  province — 
which  borders  the  Friar  does  not  say.  He  adds,  however, 
more  definitely,  that  on  the  northern  frontier,  towards  the 
land  of  the  Kara-Khitai  and  the  ocean,  was  the  station  of 
the  Tartar  Prince  Sitan,  a  brother  of  Batu. 

From  the  middle  of  May  to  the  middle  of  June,  from 
Ascension  Day  till  a  week  before  the  Feast  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist,  Carpini  pressed  on  through  this  Saracen  land,  along 
the  valley  of  the  lower  and  middle  Jaxartes,  past  the  famous 
but  wasted  towns  of  Iamckint,  Barchin,  Ornas  (or  Otrar  ?),3 
and  many  others.  After  the  election  of  Okkodai,  the  irre- 
sistible Batu  had  concpaered  all  these  places,  then  belonging 
to  the  Empire  of  Ivhwarezm  or  Khiva,  the  domain  of  the 
High  Sultan.  Iamckint  and  Barchin  soon  fell,  but  the 
siege  of  Ornas  was  long  and  troublesome,  and  the  city  was 
only  taken  by  the  heroic  expedient  of  turning  the  course  of 
the  river  Syr,  and  flooding  the  town  with  all  its  houses  and 
its  people.  Before  this  time  Ornas  had  been  very  rich  and 
populous,  and  the  seat  of  a  great  market  to  which  Christians 
resorted  from  Khazaria  and  the  countries  of  the  Slavs,  but 
which  was    dominated    by  the    Saracens    as    masters  of  the 

1  '  Altisoldanus,'    evidently    the  i    ing  to  Carpini   (p.  666).      In  either 

Khwarezm  Shah,  or  ruler  of  Khiva.  ease,  Kadan  and  Buri  (as  Rubruquis 

(Carpini,  p.  750).  writes  the  name)  were  grandsons  of 

'l  A  wife  of  Okkodai,  according  to  Ghenj<hiz. 

Rashid-ed-din  ;  of  Chagatai,   accord-  I        ;;  See  p.  391, 


306  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [CM. 

city.  The  great  river  that  flowed  by  the  town  passed  on  to 
Iamckint,  and  fell  into  a  sea  (the  Aral),  after  traversing  the 
country  of  the  '  Bisermins ' ;  thus  Ornas  was  a  sort  of  in- 
land port,1  controlling  the  most  northerly  of  the  chief  trade 
routes  that  crossed  Central  Asia. 

Carpini  was  now  emerging  from  the  boundless  level  of  the 
steppe  regions ;  for  this  country,  reaching  on  the  south 
towards  Jerusalem  and  Bagdad,  had  very  high  mountains, 
the  western  outliers  of  the  Thian  Shan ;  and  these  hilly 
districts  continued  to  check  the  rapidity  of  the  envoy's 
progress,  till  he  again  descended  into  the  prairie  region, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  great  Asian  dividing  wall. 
The  next  stage  of  the  journey  was  through  the  country 
of  the  Kara-Khitai.  Here  the  Mongols  had  rebuilt  an 
old  town  called  Omyl  or  Imil;  here  their  Emperor  had 
fixed  one  of  his  residences ;  and  here  the  visitors  were 
entertained  by  the  representative  of  the  Great  Khan,  all  the 
nobles  of  the  town  clapping  hands  before  their  guests  as  they 
drank.  Imil  was  part  of  the  special  domain  of  the  new 
Tartar  Emperor,  Kuyuk  ; 2  it  had  been  founded  by  the  Kara- 
Khitai  more  than  a  century  before ; 3  its  destruction  was  the 
work  of  Ghenghiz ;  and  its  restoration  was  due  to  Okkodai. 
Hard  by  was  a  lake  of  moderate  size,  along  which  the 
mission  journeyed  for  several  days,  and  which  was  probably 
(although  Carpini  neglected  to  ask  the  name)  the  famous  basin 
of  the  Ala-Kul,  just  north  of  Kulja,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Zungarian  Ala  Tau.  On  the  shore  of  this  lake  was  a  little 
hill,  whence  issued  in  winter  such  storms  of  wind  that  one 
could  hardly  pass,  and  that  not  without  great  danger.  The 
surface  of  the  water  was  studded  with  islands,  and  many 
small  streams  fringed  with  woodland  flowed  into  this  lofty 
mountain   basin,    celebrated   in   modern    times   as  the  only 

1  Uncle  est  quasi  "port us.       a  Rubraqtiis'  Keu  Khan.       s  ALout  1125  a.d. 


V.j  FROM    THE    SYR    DABIA    TO    MONGOLIA  307 

prominent  lake  in  Higher  Asia  which  is  not  drying  up,  but 
deepening  and  expanding.1 

To  the  south  of  this  region,  as  Carpini  heard,  was  a  great 
desert  (probably  the  Takla-Makan  section  of  the  Gobi),  in 
which  lived  wild  men,  destitute  of  speech,  or  even  of  joints 
in  their  limbs,  so  that  when  they  fell  down  they  could  not 
rise  of  themselves.  They  were  clothed  in  felt  of  camels' 
hair,  and  built  shelters  against  the  wind  of  the  same  sub- 
stance; if  wounded  with  arrows,  they  staunched  the  blood 
with  grass,  and  fled  swiftly  before  their  pursuers.2 

Passing  one  of  the  Great  Khan's  Hordes  or  Residences, 
near  which  they  rested  a  day  in  the  midst  of  unusual  plenty, 
the  Legation  now  entered  the  country  of  the  Pagan  Naimans,3 
a  cold  mountain  region  where  heavy  snow  and  biting  winds 
greeted  the  strangers  even  at  midsummer  (28th and  29th  June). 
Like  the  Tartars,  these  Naimans,  as  well  as  their  neighbours, 
the  Kara-Khitai,  were  purely  nomadic,  making  no  attempts 
at  agriculture,  but  dwelling  in  tents  and  living  on  their 
flocks.  Now  they  had  been  ruined  and  nearly  exterminated 
by  the  Mongols,  and  their  extensive  country,  through  which 
Carpini  travelled  many  days,  was  as  desolate  as  the  steppe 
regions  to  the  west.  Finally,  the  envoys,  leaving  behind 
them  the  last  of  the  barriers  which  lay  between  them  and 
their  goal,  entered  Mongolia,  and  on  the  22nd  of  July  arrived 
at  the  court  of  Kuyuk,  the  Great  Khan  Designate,  for  whose 
election  the  Kuriltai,  or  National  Assembly  of  the  Mongol 
Notables,  had  just  gathered.  Okkodai,  the  first  successor 
of  Ghenghiz,  died  in  1241,  five  years  before  ;  but  a  long- 
delay  in  the  appointment  of  a  new  emperor  was  a  common 

1  Carpini,  pp.  750-752  :  Nouveau  -  Carpini,  p.  646. 

Dcctionnaire  de  Geographic    Univer-  3  Some,  though  only  a  minority, 

sellc    [Vivien    St.     Martin    ami     L.  of  the  Naimans  seem  to  have    Wen 

Rousselet]  art.     Ala-kul.  Nestorian  Christians. 


30  S  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  LCh. 

incident  enough  among  the  Shepherd  Kings,  and  it  was  no 
easy  matter  to  convene  the  Nomade  princes  from  the  four 
corners  of  the  Mongol  Empire.  Now  that  the  electors  had 
fairly  met,  Carpini's  guides,  fearful  of  being  too  late  for  the 
ceremony,  hurried  him  on  remorselessly.  Going  as  fast  as 
the  horses  could  trot,  rising  at  dawn,  and  travelling  till  night 
without  a  rest,  he  was  often  obliged  to  go  supperless  to 
sleep,  taking  in  the  morning  '  that  which  should  have  been 
eaten  overnight,'  until  the  Imperial  Horde  was  reached.1 

The  Kuriltai  seems  to  have  met,  not  where  Bubrucpuis 
found  the  Mongol  Headcjuarters,  but  at  a  place  called 
Ormektua,  half  a  day's  journey  from  Karakorum.  Both 
'  cities '  were  probably  close  to  the  head- waters  of  the  Orkhon, 
about  three  hundred  miles  S.S.W.  of  the  Baikal  Lake,  or  Holy 
Sea.  Sura  Orcla,  as  Carpini  expressly  tells  us,  was  only  the 
name  of  the  Imperial  tent,  court,  or  palace.2 

When  the  legates  reached  the  Court,  Kuyuk  assigned 
them  a  tent  and  a  fixed  allowance  of  meat  and  drink,  but 
would  not  admit  them  to  an  audience  until  the  formalities 
of  the  election  were  over.  Meantime  translations  of  the 
Papal  Letters  and  of  the  other  credentials  of  the  mission  had 
been  forwarded  by  Batu,  and  after  five  or  six  days  Carpini 
and  his  party  were  received  by  the  Empress-Mother  Tura- 
kina,  who  had  acted  as  Regent  from  the  death  of  Okkodai, 
and  whose  tent  was  the  meeting-place  of  the  electors. 
Accompanied  by  a  Tartar  guard,  the  Latin  visitors  in- 
spected the  splendid  pavilion  that  had  been  set  up  for  the 
Kuriltai — all  of  white  velvet,3  and  large  enough,  as  Carpini 
thought,  for  more  than  two  thousand  people.  Around  this 
was  a  wooden  paling,  ornamented  with  various  designs,  and 
pierced  by  two  gates,  one  for  the  Great  Khan  and  for  him 

1  Carpini.  pp.  752-753.  "'  '  Purpura,'  Carpini,  p.  755. 

2  '  Statio,'  Carpini,  p.  757.      I 


V.]  CARPINI    AT    THE    MONGOL    COURT  309 

alone,  the  other  for  all  the  privileged  persons  who  were 
allowed  within  the  enclosure.  Here  all  the  Tartar  chiefs 
met  together ;  outside  the  Court  they  rode  in  circles  over 
hill  and  dale  with  their  attendants ;  when  coming  to  their 
Council  they  left  their  horses  picketed  about  two  bow-shots 
from  the  tent,  but  kept  their  arms.  Their  apparel  was 
magnificent,  and  it  varied  with  each  day  of  the  ceremonies ; 
from  white  to  red,  from  red  to  blue,  from  velvet  to  silk 
brocade.  When  Kuyuk  visited  the  Court  in  person,  red  was 
the  colour  specially  reserved  to  do  him  honour.  The  horses 
of  the  nobles  had  gold-plating  on  their  bits,  saddles,  cruppers, 
and  body-armour,  and  any  of  the  common  people  who 
ventured  near  them,  or  came  within  a  certain  distance  of 
the  tent,  were  soundly  beaten  by  the  guards.  Meantime, 
within  the  pavilion,  the  chiefs  discussed  the  election,  soberly 
till  noon,  more  freely  afterwards  ;  for  at  mid-day  they  began 
drinking  their  mares'  milk,  and  till  evening  they  drank  so 
deeply  that  it  was  a  sight  to  see.  As  they  became  more 
and  more  genial  with  their  liquor  they  called  the  Frankish 
strangers  inside,  offered  them  Kumiss,  and,  on  their  refusal, 
plied  them  with  mead,  vainly  struggling  to  overcome  the 
obstinate  temperance  of  their  visitors.  Among  all  the 
princes  or  envoys  who  had  come  to  the  installation  of 
Kuyuk,  none  (except  the  Eussian  Yaroslav)  were  treated 
with  such  honour  as  Carpini  and  his  friends.1  Yet  the 
whole  world,  as  it  were,  was  represented  at  this  remote 
Mongolian  Horde  ;  '  for  there  were  more  than  four  thou- 
sand ambassadors,  some  bringing  tribute,  some  offering- 
presents,  as  well  as  Sultans  and  chiefs  who  had  come  in 
person,  aud  others  again  who  were  governors  of  provinces.' 
Among  this  crowd  the  most  notable  were  Prince  Yaroslav 
of  Suzdal ;  two  sons  of  the  King  of  Georgia  ;  several  princes 
1  So  Friar  John  himself  declares,  p.  757, 


310  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

of  the  Khitai  and  Solanges,1  from  North  China,  Manchuria, 
and  Korea ;  the  emissary  of  the  Caliph  of  Bagdad ;  and 
more  than  ten  Moslem  Sultans.  From  the  Dniepr  to  the 
Ho-ang-ho,  and  from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  the  Arctic  circle, 
all  nations  were  eager  to  conciliate  the  favour  of  '  God  in 
Heaven  and  Kuyuk  Khan  on  Earth.'2 

Carpini  spent,  as  far  as  his  recollection  would  serve,  a 
good  four  weeks  at  or  near  the  Syro  Orda,  and  during  this 
time  he  believed  the  election  of  Kuyuk  took  place,  though 
with  greal  secrecy,  and  without  any  formal  proclamation. 
But,  from  the  homage  paid  him,  it  was  clear  that  the  matter 
was  settled  ;  whenever  Kuyuk  came  out  of  '  the  tent,'  they 
sang  to  him  and  inclined  before  him  certain  staves  tipped 
with  tufts  of  red  wool,  symbols  of  royalty  which  no  other 
chief  enjoyed,  and  which,  under  the  name  of  tughs,  were  for 
many  ages  among  the  accompaniments  of  Tartar  sovereignty 
in  Asia.3 

The  new  Emperor  was,  in  the  writer's  judgment,  about 
forty  years  old,  perhaps  forty-live,  or  even  more  ;  he  was  of 
medium  stature,  very  reserved  and  dignified  in  manner,  with 
a  reputation  for  great  sagacity  and  (as  the  Christians  at  his 
Court  supposed)  so  favourable  to  the  faith  of  Jesus,  that  he 
would  certainly  declare  himself  a  convert  at  no  great  dis- 
tance of  time.  Christians  (probably  Kestorians)  were 
regularly  maintained  in  his  service  and  supplied  from  his 
table ;  a  Christian  chapel  stood  just  in  front  of  his  tent, 
and  here  service  was  publicly  performed — all  which  was 
peculiar  to  Kuyuk's  household,  and  not  permitted  at  the 
Court  of  any  other  of  the  Mongol  princes.4  Three  or  four 
leagues  from  the  Solemn  Court,  Imperial  Pavilion,  or  Syra 
Orda,  was  another  camp  or  tent,  called  the  Golden  Horde,  in  a 

1  Otherwise  '  Kitai '  and  'Solangi.'   I       :!  Carpini,  p.  757. 

-  Carpini,  pp.  754-757.  I       4  Carpini,  pp.  765-766, 


V".]  OARPINI    AT    THE    MONGOL    COURT  311 

fine  large  plain  near  a  river x  flowing  between  mountains  ;  here 
Kuyuk  was  to  have  been  enthroned  on  the  15th  of  August, 
but  the  ceremony  was  deferred  for  ten  days,  on  account  of  a 
storm  of  hail.  This  tent  was  a  splendid  piece  of  work;  it 
rested  on  pillars  plated  with  gold  and  studded  with  gold 
nails  ;  the  top  and  sides  were  covered  with  silk  brocades  ; 2 
and  here  at  last,  on  the  24th  of  August,  the  enthronement  of 
the  new  Khan  took  place.  A  great  multitude  came  together, 
all  standing  with  their  faces  towards  the  south,  and  con- 
stantly bending  the  knee  to  that  quarter  of  the  heavens. 
These  observances  continued  for  a  long  time,  until  the 
moment  of  the  installation  had  come.  Then  every  one  went 
back  into  the  tent,  and  placing  Kuyuk  on  the  imperial  seat, 
knelt  before  him  and  did  homage — first  the  princes  and 
then  the  rest  of  the  people, — the  Friars  alone  abstaining 
from  the  customary  genuflections,  though  afterwards  they 
also  paid  the  required  marks  of  respect  to  the  new  ruler. 
The  clay  ended  with  a  gorging  and  drinking  bout  ;  carts  of 
cooked  meat  were  devoured  with  salted  broth  for  sauce  ; 
mares'  milk,  mead,  and  other  liquors  were  not  spared  ;  and 
that  night  saw  only  the  beginning  of  a  feast  that  lasted 3  in 
proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the  event  it  marked. 

Here,  at  the  Court  of  the  Golden  Horde,  Carpini  and  his 
friends,  with  the  emissaries  of  the  Solanges  and  many  others, 
were  admitted  to  the  Imperial  presence  ;  Chingay,4  the  pro- 
tonotary,  wrote  down  the  names  of  all  the  envoys  to  be 
received,  and  the  names  of  those  from  whom  they  came, 
and  repeated  the  same  in  a  loud  voice  before  the  Great 
Khan  and  the  assembled  princes  and  nobles  of  the  Court. 
The  ambassadors  were  then  searched,  lest  they  should  have 

1  Probably  the  Orkhon. 

2  Baldakinis. 

3  Seven  days.     Carpini,  pp,  757- 


758. 


4  The  Uigur  prime  minister  of 
Okkodai,  who  had  lost  favour  in  the 
regency  of  Turakina.  Carpini,  pp, 
758-759, 


312  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

upon  their  persons  any  knives  or  other  weapons ;  they  were 
warned  not  to  touch  the  threshold,  to  enter  the  presence  by 
the  left  door,  and  to  bow  the  knee  four  times  before  the 
throne.     The  presents  offered  to  Kuyuk  by  various  envoys 
were  here  on  view  in  the  Golden  Horde — silks  and  samits, 
velvets    and    brocade,   furs    and   gold   embroidery,   with   a 
canopy     or    awning 1    covered    with    precious    stones    and 
designed   for   state    occasions.     From    one    governor    of    a 
province  came  a  caravan  of  camels  covered  with   brocade 
and  a  number  of   horses  and  mules  in  armour  of  leather 
and  iron  ;  on  a  hill  near  the  Horde  more  than  five  hundred 
carts-full  of  gold,  silver,  and  silk  were  divided  between  the 
Emperor   and   the   Mongol  princes,  as  accession-spoil ;  the 
Latin  envoys  alone  had  no  gifts  to  offer.     From  the  Khitai 
of  North  China  came  a  wonderful  tent  of  red  velvet,  fitted 
with  a  dais  for  the  Great  Khan's  throne,  and  a  royal  seat  of 
ebony,  marvellously  carved,  rounded  behind,  and  approached 
by  steps,  with  lavish  adornments  of  gold,  pearls,  and  precious 
stones.     Benches  were  placed  around  the  throne  ;  those  on 
the  left  were  higher,  and  here  sat  the  female  courtiers,  the 
harem  of  the  Great  Khan  ;  on  the  right  there  were  no  raised 
seats,   but    the   chiefs  sat   on    seats   of  lesser   height  in  the 
middle     of     the     tent,    their     inferiors     crowding     behind 
them.2 

While  Carpini  was  at  the  Mongol  Court,  Prince  Yaroslav 
of  Suzdal  died  there — from  poison,  it  was  said,  administered 
by  the  Empress-mother  with  her  own  hand,  at  a  banquet 
she  gave  him.  In  any  case,  he  fell  ill  after  that  same 
banquet,  and  within  seven  days  he  died,  and  every  one  knew 
how  much  the  Tartars  coveted  his  lands.  To  complete  the 
work  of  robbery,  the  Empress  summoned  to  court  Alexander, 
son  and  heir  of  Yaroslav,  afterwards  famous  and  hallowed 

1  Or  umbrella.     Carpini,  p.  760.  -  Carpini,  758-761. 


V.]  CARPINI    AT    THE    MONGOL    COURT  313 

as  Alexander  Nevski ;  she  was  anxious,  so  ran  the  message, 
to  give  him  his  father's  lands  ;  but  all  believed  that,  if  he 
came,  it  would  only  be  to  death  or  life-long  captivity ; 
fortunately  for  himself,  he  was  too  wary  to  put  his  head  in 
the  lioness'  den.1 

When  the  envoys  of  the  Pope  had  been  first  presented 
to  Kuyuk,  he  dismissed  them  for  a  time  to  the  Court  of  this 
same  treacherous  Empress  ; 2  he  did  not  wish  to  meet  the 
western  visitors  just  then,  the  Friar  believed,  for  he  had 
determined  in  two  days'  time  to  unfurl  his  standard  against 
the  whole  of  that  Western  World  from  which  they  came. 
The  imperial  hospitality  was  not  too  generous  ;  for  the  month 
which  the  envoys  spent  at  Syra  Orda  was  a  time  of  terrible 
privation ;  the  allowance  of  food  which  was  given  to  the 
four  of  them  was  barely  sufficient  for  one ;  the  market  was 
too  distant  for  them  to  buy  anything  ;  and  the  guests  were  in 
constant  fear  of  the  diminution  of  their  supplies  to  starvation 
point.  But  for  the  help  of  a  Russian,3  named  Kosmas,  who, 
as  a  goldsmith,  was  in  high  favour  with  the  Khan,  the  whole 
party  might  have  died.  This  Kosmas  had  made  the  imperial 
throne  above  described,  and  the  seal  with  which  Kuyuk's 
answer  to  the  Papal  Letters  was  authenticated,  and  he  showed 
the  visitors  the  haughty  inscription  on  the  seal  of  the 
'  Emperor  of  all  men,'  which  our  author  gives  in  full  else- 
where.4 From  some  Russians  and  Hungarians,  who  spoke 
Latin  and  French,  and  had  come  to  Ormektua  in  the  follow- 
ing of  various  princes  and  ambassadors,  Carpini  learned 
many  details  of  the  Khan's  private  life ;  but  most  of  all  he 
gathered  from  some  Europeans,  who  had  been  in  Mongolia, 

1  Carpini,  761-762.     He  did  not  i    ferring    again    to    his    1  i i- - 1    days    at 

visit    Mongolia   until   Turakina   had  Ormektua,    before    the   election    hail 

ceased  to  hold  power,  after  the  com-  taken  place,  p,  762. 

plete  installation  of  Kuyuk.  :t  Ruthenian,  p.  763. 

-  Carpini   is   here   apparently  re-  ,          4  Seep.  292  of  this  vol, 


314  DIPLOMATIC    ANT    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

either  as  prisoners  or  artificers,  for  lengthy  periods — ten, 
twenty,  or  thirty  years.1 

After  the  Latin  strangers  had  been  some  time  under 
the  Emperor's  charge  (for  their  stay  at  the  Court  of  the 
Empress-mother  fortunately  lasted  but  a  few  days),  they 
underwent  a  visit  from  Chingay  the  protonotary.  On  behalf 
of  the  Khan,  he  required  a  written  statement  of  the  objects 
of  the  mission,  as  at  Batu's  Court;  and  in  the  same  way,  and 
almost  in  the  same  words,  this  statement  was  furnished  once 
more  ;  perhaps  Kuyuk  wished  to  see  whether  this  would 
tally  with  the  account  given  by  Batu.  After  a  few  days 
the  legates  were  summoned  to  the  imperial  presence,  and 
required  to  state  in  words  all  that  they  wished  to  say.  They 
did  so ;  and  various  questions  were  now  put  to  them,  on  be- 
half of  the  Khan,  by  Chingay,  Kadak,  the  '  procurator'  of  the 
Empire,  and  other  notaries  and  secretaries.  Thus  they  were 
asked  if  any  one  at  the  Papal  Court  could  interpret  the 
Bussian,  Saracen,  or  Tartar  writing ;  they  replied  that  none 
of  these  were  in  use  at  Rome,  and  that  the  best  course  was 
to  write  in  Tartar,  and  to  give  a  translation  of  the  same, 
through  the  interpreters,  in  Latin.  Among  these  interpreters 
was  one  Temer,  who  had  been  a  '  knight '  or  attendant  of 
the  unhappy  Yaroslav,  and  had  now  entered  the  service  of 
the  Khan.2 

The  suggestion  of  the  Friars  was  adopted,  and  on  the 
11th  of  November  they  were  again  summoned,  and  furnished 
with  the  Mongol  answer  to  their  letters,  written  in  Latin  and 
Arabic  as  well  as  'Tartar.'  This  document  was  read  out 
and  translated  word  by  word ;  as  the  Latin  version  was 
recited,  the  Friars  were  called    on  to  explain  each    phrase, 


1  Carpini,  762-763. 

2  Carpini   mentions    three  others 
of     YaroJav's     suite,     '  Dubarlaus,' 

clerk    who  had   also   entered   the 


Khan's  service,  and  two  menials, 
Jacob  and  Michael ;  cf.  pp.  763,  76-J, 
771. 


V.]  CARPINfs    RETURN  315 

lest  a  mistake  had  been  made  in  any  word ;  finally  the 
various  draughts  were  compared  with  one  another  to  guard 
against  omissions  in  any  copy.  The  legates  were  provided 
with  Tartar  guides  for  the  return  journey,  and  Kuyuk  pro- 
posed to  send  back  with  them  some  ambassadors  of  his  own 
to  the  States  of  Christian  Europe  and  the  Pope.  He  would 
not,  however,  demean  himself  by  making  the  offer,  but  only 
gave  a  hint  through  the  interpreters,  who  urged  the  Franks 
to  ask  the  Khan  to  execute  what  was  in  his  heart ;  the  hint 
was  not  taken,  as  Carpini  and  his  fellows  dreaded  nothing- 
more,  in  the  interests  of  Christendom,  than  such  an  embassy, 
which  would  be  a  mission  of  espionage,  and  not  improbably 
an  immediate  cause  of  war.  So  the  matter  dropped ;  the 
Friars  returned  to  their  quarters,  and  two  days  after,  on  the 
13th  November,  they  obtained  their  formal  dismissal, 
together  with  a  missive  from  the  Great  Khan,  signed  and 
sealed  with  his  own  seal.  The  Punpress-mother  gave  them 
some  parting  presents,  a  fox-skin  gown  with  the  fur  outside, 
and  a  piece  of  velvet,  but  in  this  case  she  does  not  seem  to 
have  added  her  favourite  gift  of  poison.1 

The  return  journey  was  even  more  arduous  than  the  way 
out,  and  the  winter  weather  proved  even  more  trying  than 
the  summer.  From  the  13th  of  November  to  the  9th  of 
June  Carpini  struggled  across  the  vast  expanse  between  the 
Mongol  Court  and  Kiev,  resting  usually  (when  rest  was 
taken)  in  places  on  the  open  plain  where  one  could  scrape  a 
hole  with  the  feet,  and  pile  up  the  snow  around  as  a  pro- 
tection, poor  at  the  best,  for  often  one  woke  to  find  all 
covered  with  the  drifts.  It  was  on  this  homeward  route  that 
the  mission  passed  through  a  Bisermin  or  Moslem  town, 
called  Lemfink,  which  was  probably  in  the  middle  basin  of 
the  Syr  Daria,  and  perhaps  near  the  present  Tchimkent ;  this 
1  Carpini,  pp.  764-767. 


316  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [On. 

is  the  only  indication  given  us  by  Carpini's  narrative  of  the 
course  he  was  now  following,  but  there  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  it  was  very  different  from  that  of  his  outward 
way.1 

On  the  9th  of  May  Friar  John  reappeared  at  Batu's 
Camp  upon  the  Volga,  and  reported  to  the  Western  Viceroy 
what  the  Khan  had  written  in  answer  to  the  Papal  Letters. 
Batu  asked  no  further  questions,  but  warned  the  envoys 
fully  and  truly  to  declare  the  whole  counsel  of  Kuyuk  to 
the  Pope  and  the  lords  of  Christendom.  So  saying,  he  dis- 
missed them  with  safe  conducts,  and  passed  them  on  to  his 
lieutenant,  Mauci,  who  guarded  (as  we  have  seen)  the  left 
or  eastern  side  of  the  Dniepr  basin.  Here  they  rescued 
those  members  of  their  party  who  had  vainly  essayed  to 
return  with  news  of  the  progress  of  the  mission  on  its  first 
arrival  in  Batu's  Horde  ;  these  unfortunates  had  long  aban- 
doned all  hope  of  Carpini's  life  and  of  their  own  freedom, 
and  expected  nothing  but  an  early  death  after  a  few  hard 
years  of  slavery.  Still  pushing  on,  the  reunited  friends 
passed  the  next  barrier  or  cordon,  that  on  the  right  or 
western  bank  of  the  Borysthenes,  where  '  Corenza '  com- 
manded. Again  Kurancha  begged  hard  for  presents  in 
return  for  the  guides  he  furnished,  but,  '  as  we  had  nothing/ 
says  Carpini  drily,  '  we  gave  nothing.'  In  six  days  more, 
Kiev  was  reached  (9th  June)  ;  this  last  stage  of  the  journey 
was  marked  by  a  meeting  with  the  Russian  Prince  Roman 
on  his  way  to  the  Tartars,  and  with  two  other  nobles  of  the 
same  race,  a  certain  Prince  '  Aloha,'  and  the  '  Duke '  of 
Tchernigov,  who  accompanied  the  mission  on  its  return 
through  Russia.2 

On  Carpini's  arrival,  the  people  of  Kiev  came  out  in  a 
body   to  meet  him  and  his  friends,  rejoicing  over  them  as 

1  Carpini,  p.  768.  "  Carpini,  pp.  768-769. 


V.j  MISSION    OF    ANDREW    OF    LONGUMEAU  317 

if  they  had  risen  from  the  dead  ;  the  Princes  Daniel  and 
Vassilko  entertained  them  at  a  conference  on  the  question 
of  the  Reunion  of  the  Churches  ;  and  for  eight  days  their  stay 
was  prolonged,  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  hospitable  welcome-home, 
which  continued  throughout  all  Russia,  Poland,  and  Bohemia. 
The  Friar  concludes  with  a  too  promising  declaration  of  the 
Eastern  bishops,  whose  supposed  wish  '  to  have  the  Pope 
for  their  special  lord  and  father,  and  the  Holy  Roman  Church 
for  their  lady  and  mistress,'  was  not  destined  to  find  much 
confirmation  in  subsequent  events.  It  is  perhaps  more 
interesting  to  notice  that  Kiev  was  already  showing  some 
revival  as  a  centre  of  trade  ;  Carpini  now  met  with  several 
merchants  from  Italy,  who  had  come  here  by  way  of  Con- 
stantinople, the  Black  Sea,  and  '  Tartary,'  apparently  in  the 
period  between  his  first  visit  and  his  return  ;  among  others 
were  Michael  of  Genoa,  Manuel  of  Venice,  and  Nicolas  of 
Pisa,1  representatives  of  the  three  chief  commercial  cities  of 
the  Mediterranean.'2 

Carpini  returned  to  the  Papal  Court  in  the  summer  of 
12-47,3  and  in  the  very  next  year  a  fresh  attempt  was 
made  by  a  Christian  sovereign  to  open  friendly  relations 
with  the  Tartars,  and  to  hasten  their  supposed  inclination 
towards  the  Catholic  faith. 

This  was  the  mission  of  Andrew  of  Longumeau,  who 
was  sent  out  by  King  Louis  IX.  of  France,  while  holding 
his  Court4  in  Cyprus  in  1248.  The  King's  letters  were 
addressed  especially  to  Ilchikadai,  the  Mongol  general 
commanding    in    Persia,    and    through    him    to    the    Great 

1   'Pisanus,'     perhaps     one    Nic.  of    the    privations    lie    had    under- 

Pisano,-  the  Venetian  family  of  the  gone. 

Pisani.  4  During  his  absence  from  France, 

'-'  Carpini,  pp.  769-772.  on  the  unlucky  venture  of  the  sixth 

:;  Soon   after  his  return,   lie   died  Crusade. 


318  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [OH. 

Khan  ;  and  they  formed  an  answer  to  the  embassy  of  a 
certain  David,  who  had  been  sent  by  Ilchikadai  to  St. 
Louis,  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  same  year  (1248).  David 
had  reported  that  the  mother  of  the  Great  Khan  was  a 
Christian  ;  and  that  the  Mongols  were  eager  for  an 
alliance  with  Christendom  against  Islam  ;  he  even  reported 
a  decisive  conversion  of  the  Great  Khan  himself  and  all 
his  lords,  at  the  Festival  of  the  Epiphany,  three  years  before. 
This  story  of  David's  was  interpreted,  and  partly  supported 
(according  to  one  authority)  by  Brother  Andrew  of  Longu- 
meau,  who,  like  Simon  of  St.  Quentin,  had  been  to  the 
Tartars  in  the  company  of  Friar  Ascelin x  and  the  Southern 
Papal  mission  of  1247,  and  had  met  this  David  at  Kars,  at  the 
camp  of  the  Mongol  general,  Baiju,  commanding  in  Armenia. 

Now  Brother  Andrew  was  put  in  charge  of  King  Louis' 
return  Embassy,  and  started  from  Cyprus  for  the  Court 
of  Kuyuk  in  the  middle  of  February,  1248-9,  and  in  the 
company  of  the  aforesaid  David,  and  of  various  priests, 
friars  and  laymen,  one  of  whom  is  said  to  have  been 
an  Englishman. 

The  outward  journey  was  probably  made  from  Cyprus 
to  the  coast  of  Little  Armenia  or  Cilicia  ;  and  from  Little 
Armenia  overland  through  Asia  Minor,  in  a  north-easterly 
direction,  by  way  of  Sivas  and  Erzerum,  to  Tillis,  the  capital 
of  Georgia.  Hence  we  may  suppose  Andrew  went  to  Tabriz, 
where  he  would  find  Ilchikadai,  and  perhaps  part  with 
David.  Proceeding  onward,  the  mission  apparently  skirted 
the  southern  shore  of  the  Caspian,  and  by  way  of  Urgenj 
or  Khiva,  Talas,  and  Tchimkent,  pushed  on  to  the  Horde  of 
Kuyuk  on  the  Imil.2     At  Talas  Andrew  saw  some  Teutonic 

1  Ascelin  himself  did  not  return    :    ing  to  Rubruquis,  the  Embassy  fol- 
to  the  Papal  Court  till  '12.50.  lowed  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Caspian 

2  On  the  return  journey,  accord-       for  a  long  distance. 


V.|  MISSION    0*     ANDREW    OF    LONGUMEAU  319 

or  German  captives  among  the  Tartars,  a  striking  proof  of 
the  far-reaching  character  of  the  Mongol  raids ;  but  he  seems 
to  have  been  unable  to  get  speech  with  these  prisoners.     In 
its  main  object  the  mission  was  a  failure  ;  for,  on  arrival  at 
the  Imil  Court,  it  transpired  that  Kuyuk  Khan  had  lately 
died,  and  the  visitors  were  received  with  haughty  insolence 
by  the  Regent  Mother,  Ogul  Gaimish,  who  treated  them  like 
tribute-bearers,   and   sent   them   back    to    King    Louis    with 
insulting  letters.1     On  their  return  in  1251,  they  presented 
a  somewhat  fantastic  report  to  King  Louis,  identifying  the 
Mongols  with  Gog  and  Magog  and  the  host  of  Antichrist, 
and  giving  some  account  of  the  great  conqueror,  Ghenghiz 
Khan,  his  wars  and  legislation,  his  encounter  with  Prester 
John,  and  his  supposed  conversion  to  Christianity.     Among 
other  evidences  of  this  adoption  of  the  True  Faith  by  some 
of  the  Tartars,  they  noticed  eight  hundred  chapels,  or  what 
they  supposed  were  chapels,  in   one  camp — all  mounted  on 
the  waggons  of  the  Xomades.     They  also  reported  positively 
as  to  the  Christian  belief  of  Sartach,  the  son  of  Batu.     On 
their  way  to  and  from  the  Mongol  Court,  they  passed  many 
ruined  cities  and  piles  of  human  bones  ;  and,  like  preceding 
and  subsequent  embassies,  they  witnessed  and  experienced 
the  Tartar  ritual  of  passing  all  strangers  (and  their  presents) 
between  two  fires  of  purification.2     Their  journey  lasted  a 
year,  and  the  average  rate  of  their  progress  was  ten  leagues 
a   day.      Brother  Andrew's    location    of   the    prison    of    the 
Gog-Magogs    and    companions    of    Antichrist,    from    which 

1  Which      Joinville       gives       as       argent     chascun    an,     que     tu    nous 
follows:  — '  Bone  chose  est  de  pez  .  .   .       retieignes  a  amis  ;  et  se  tu  ne  le  fais, 
cete   chose   te   mandons,    nous    pour       nous  destruirons  toy  et  ta  gent.  .  .  . 
toy   aviser  ;    car    tu    ne    peus   avoir  2  This  was  done  with  especial  can 

pez  se  tu  ne  has  a  nous,  et  tel 
roy  et  tel  .  .  .  et  touz  les  avons 
mis  a  l'espee.  Si  te  mandons  qui  tu 
lion  envoies  taut  ilc  ton  on   et  de  ton 


in  the  case  of  Friar  Andrew's  mission, 
as  some  of  its  presents  were  destined 
for  the  dead  Kuvuk  Khan. 


320  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

the  Mongols  had  escaped,  among  rocky  mountains,  in  a 
sandy  desert  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  world,  clearly 
refers  to  the  Great  Wall  of  China. 

We  know  nothing  more  of  the  various  attendants  who  are 
said  to  have  accompanied  Andrew— Jehan  Goderiche,  a 
priest  and  a  member  of  the  same  Order,  two  other  Friars, 
various  clergy  of  Poissy,  Gerbert  de  Sens,  Herbert  '  lc 
Sommelier,'  two  clerks,  two  sergeants-at-arms,  Eobert  'the 
clerk,'  John  of  Carcassonne,  and  one  William  ;  but  it  is 
clear  that  this  Legation  accomplished  one  of  the  most 
important  and  interesting  of  those  diplomatic  and  missionary 
journeys,  which  form  a  supplement  to  the  travels  of  Carpini 
and  Rubruquis,  and  its  route  along  the  south  and  east 
coasts  of  the  Caspian  is  unique  in  Christian  mediaeval 
travel. 

The  ill-success  of  Brother  Andrew's  mission  did  not 
prevent  King  Louis  from  making  another  effort,  during  his 
stay  in  the  Levant,  to  open  intercourse  with  the  Mongols. 
In  1252  he  despatched  a  Franciscan,  named  William,  famous 
as  William  de  Kubruck  or  Rubruquis,  from  his  native  place 
of  Rubruck  in  French  Flanders,  on  a  new  mission.  Carefully 
avoiding  anything  in  the  nature  of  an  official  embassy,  the 
French  sovereign  furnished  Eubruquis  with  letters  to  the 
Emperor  of  the  Tartars,  and  to  the  Mongol  Prince  Sartach, 
occupying  a  district  to  the  north  of  the  Black  Sea,  whose 
mythical  conversion  to  the  Christian  faith  had  been  so 
constantly  asserted.  A  more  critical  mind  than  St.  Louis' 
might  well  have  been  deceived  by  the  plenitude  of  lying 
rumour  as  to  the  Catholic  inclinations  of  the  Mongols.  As 
Friar  William  only  occupied  a  semi-private  position,  he  had 
but  a  small  supply  of  money,  but  he  was  provided  with  a 
richer  stock  of  church  vestments  and  books,  Queen  Margaret 


V.]  RTJBRUQUIS    IN    CONSTANTINOPLE  321 

giving  him  an  illuminated  Psalter,  and  the  King  presenting 
him  with  a  Bible,  and  perhaps  with  that  fine  Arabic  manu- 
script which  he  mentions  among  the  other  treasures  of  his 
baggage.  Eubruquis  probably  embarked  at  Acre  in  the 
spring  of  1252,  and  in  the  company  of  that  Philip  de  Toucy,1 
who,  as  we  have  seen,  had  given  St.  Louis  a  great  amount 
of  fresh  intelligence  about  the  Tartars.  It  was  indeed  his 
journey,  his  visit  to  the  French  camp,  and  his  report  of  the 
travels  and  successes,  marital  and  other,  of  Baldwin  of 
Hainault,  which  immediately  decided  both  the  mission  of 
Eubruquis  itself,  and  the  outward  route  of  that  mission. 
In  Constantinople  Brother  William  must  have  remained 
nearly  a  year,  for  it  was  not  till  the  spring  of  1253  that  he 
left  the  Imperial  City  for  Mongolia ;  and  his  travelling 
companion,  Friar  Bartholomew  of  Cremona,2  probably  joined 
him  in  Byzantium,  from  an  earlier  station  in  the  Bithynian 
Nicaea.  The  mysterious  personage  so  often  mentioned  in 
his  narrative,  '  Homo  Dei  Turgemanus,'  the  interpreter  or 
dragoman  of  the  party,  may  have  come  from  Palestine  or 
may  have  joined  at  a  later  time  ;  there  is  nothing  to  show 
his  origin  or  nationality  ;  and  it  must  remain  uncertain 
whether  he  was  properly  a  guide  and  '  turgiman,'  named 
or  nicknamed  'Homo  Dei,' or  whether  he  was  '  Turgemanus, 
that  Man  of  God,'  monk,  or  hermit,  who  was  willing  to  act 
the  part  of  an  interpreter  for  his  Christian  brethren.  In 
any  case,  he  did  not  prove  himself  an  efficient  helper.  The 
other  companions  or  servants3  who  followed  Rubruquis  to 
the  Hordes  of  Batu  and  of  Mangu  have  no  clear  individuality 
in  his  pages,  though  some  of  them  may  have  helped  to  pass 


1  Son  of  Narjot  (Joinville's  Narjoe) 
de  Toucy,  formerly  Regent  of  the 
Latin  Empire  of  the  East. 


2  Who  stayed  behind  at  Mangu's 
Court  when  Rubruquis  returned. 

3  E.g.  Gosset. 


322 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


on  the  knowledge  of  Central  Asia,  now   acquired,  to  later 
travellers.1 

It  was  on  the  7th  of  May,  1253,  that  Eubruquis  set  out 
on  his  journey  from  Constantinople,  and  sailed  into  the 
Black  Sea,  Pontus,  or  Mare  Mains,  whose  length  he  estimates 
at  fourteen  hundred  miles,  with  a  breadth  at  the  narrowest 
point  of  only  three  hundred,2  between  Sinope  and  the 
Crimea.  Georgia  and  Constantinople,  Turkey  and  the  Land 
of  the.  Khazars,3  were  in  his  mind  the  four  chief  regions  of 
the  Euxine  shore-land,  at  the  extremities  of  east  and  west, 
of  south  and  north,  respectively.  The  traveller  seems  to 
have  made  a  straight  course  from  the  Bosphorus  to  Kherson 
or  Sevastopol,4  and  then  (without  touching  land)  to  have 
coasted  along  the  Tauric  Chersonese  as  far  as  Soldaia  or 
Sudak,  between  the  modern  Livadia  and  Theodosia  or  Kaffa. 
This  Sudak  was  then  a  port  for  all  the  maritime  traffic 
between  Turkey  and  Khazar-Land,  between  the  north  and 
south  coasts  of  the  Black  Sea.  It  had  not  yet  been  eclipsed 
by  Kaffa  and  the  influence  of  the  Genoese ;  and  it  formed 
(the  author  here  invents  a  geography  of  his  own)  one  ex- 
tremity of  the  triangle  formed  by  the  Crimean  or  Khazarian 
Peninsula.5  To  the  east  of  this  the  Eiver  Tanais 6  fell  into 
the  sea  hard  by  the  city  of  Matarcha  or  Matrica  (in  other 


1  For  Rubruquis's  own  report 
attracted  wonderfully  little  notice 
for  many  centuries. 

2  It  is  really  seven  hundred  long, 
by  four  hundred  broad.  Of.  Rubru- 
quis,  pp.  213,  214,  of  text  in  vol.  iv.  of 
Paris  Geographical  Society's  Racueil 
dc  voyages  et  de  memoires,  to  which 
all  references  are  made  here. 

3  Gazaria,  Cassaria,  Caesarea,  i.e. 
Xhazaria,  are  all  names  for  the 
Crimea  at  this  time,  used  by  Rubru- 
quis,   p.    214,    and   all   refer   to   the 


Khazar  rule  therein. 

4  The  traditional  scene  of  the 
martyrdom  of  St.  Clement ;  cf.  the 
sixth-century  pilgrim,  Theodosius, 
in  Itinera  Terrae  Sanctae,  Saec.  IV- 
XI.  (i.),  Tobler's  edition,  1877  ;  Soc. 
de  rOrient  Latin  ;  also  Rubruquis, 
pp.  214-215. 

5  Surrounded  by  the  sea  on  three 
sides,  or  '  pretty  well  triangular  in 
shape,'  Rubruquis,  p.  214. 

6  Don  ;  cf.  Rubruquis,  p.  215. 


V.]     FROM  CONSTANTINOPLE  TO  THE  CRIMEA    323 

words,  at  the  Strait  of  Kertch  or  Yenikale) ;  for  the  Sea  of 
Azov  was  clearly  not  reckoned  as  anything  more  than  a  marsh 
created  by  the  Tanais.  No  large  vessels  could  enter  this 
water,  which  over  a  length  and  breadth  of  seven  hundred 
miles1  never  exceeded  six  paces  in  depths ;  small  barques,  how- 
ever, came  from  Constantinople  up  the  Tanais  to  buy  fish. 
Beyond  the  estuary  of  this  famous  stream,  for  so  many  ages 
the  traditional  boundary  of  Europe  and  Asia,  lay  the 
Georgians  or  Iberians,  and  various  other  peoples,2  who 
yielded  no  submission  to  the  Tartars  ;  to  the  south  was 
Trebizond,  with  an  imperial  family  related  to  the  Greek 
Emperors  of  Nicaea,  once  lords  of  Constantinople  ;  and  in  this 
kingdom,  in  all  the  lands  to  the  north  of  the  Black  Sea, 
and  even  in  many  countries  to  the  west  of  it,3  the  overlord- 
ship  of  the  Mongols  was  unquestioned.  As  far  as  Slavonia 
all  men  yielded  them  tribute,  and  in  this  tribute  was  now 
included  certain  payments  in  a  metal  often  exacted  by 
pastoral  conquerors  from  more  settled  races.  For  every 
household  had  to  furnish  an  axe  and  a  quantity  of  un- 
wrought  iron. 

Bubruquis  landed  at  Sudak  on  the  21st  of  May,  and 
found  himself  already  famous.  Merchants  from  Con- 
stantinople had  been  spreading  news  of  this  '  envoy '  from 
the  Holy  Land,  and  in  spite  of  his  wish  to  travel  as  a 
simple  monk,  without  any  formal  character,  he  was  obliged 
to  admit  his  character  as  an  ambassador,  bringing  letters 
to  Prince  Sartach  from  King  Louis.  During  his  short 
stay   at    Sudak,  the    traveller  was   lodged   and  entertained 


1  Modern  Geography  estimates  it 
at  235  miles  by  110. 

2  E.g.  Zicci ;  cf.  the  Zvyoi,  ZvyioL, 
and  liyivvol  of  Strabo,  xi.,  ii.  14.  The 
Georgians  or  Iberi  at  this  time  were 
certainly  under  tribute  to  the  Tartars. 
Cf.  Rubrurpvis,  p.  216,  on  the  Zicci, 


Suevi,  and  Hiberi,  who  'do  not  obey 

the  Tartars.' 

:i  Such  as  ancient  Thrace,  the 
'  Wallachia '  or  '  Vlachia'  and  'Lesser 
Bulgaria'  of  this  time  ;  cf.  Rulnu- 
quis,  p.  216. 


324  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

by  the  Bishop,  whose  good  report 1  of  the  Mongol  chief 
was  not  confirmed  by  the  Friar's  own  experience  a  little 
later.  Misled  by  the  advice  of  some  Byzantine  merchants, 
ltubruquis  purchased  and  borrowed  ox-waggons  for  his 
journey,  in  preference  to  horses ;  such  carts  the  Russians 
used  to  carry  furs  ;  and  in  them  the  Franks  now  stored 
such  poor  offerings  as  they  had  brought  to  conciliate  the 
Tartar  magnates.  The  slowness  of  these  arbas  more  than 
outweighed  their  advantages ;  with  them  one  travelled 
twice  as  slow  as  in  riding ;  but  the  writer  could  only 
learn  by  experience,  and  he  set  out  from  Sudak  on  the 
1st  of  June  with  four  waggons  that  had  been  bought,  two 
that  had  been  lent,  five  horses  for  the  five  members  of 
the  party,  and  two  drivers  or  servants.  The  rank  and  file 
of  the  mission  was  composed  of  the  dragoman,  Brother 
Bartholomew  of  Cremona,  one  Gosset,  who  had  special 
charge  of  the  presents,  and  a  boy  called  Nicholas,  who 
had  been  redeemed  from  slavery  at  Constantinople  by 
Friar  William's  compassion  and  the  money  of  the  French 
King.2 

Along  the  coast  of  the  Crimea,  from  Kherson  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Tanais,  the  sea  was  faced  by  lofty  promontories 
(the  mountain  range  of  the  Tchatyr  Dagh),  and  the  shore 
was  studded  with  villages.  Between  Kherson  and  Sudak 
alone  the  traveller  counted  forty  of  these  hamlets,  and  nearly 
every  one  had  its  own  language  or  dialect ;  not  the  least 
remarkable  was  the  Teutonic  of  various  Gothic  settlers. 
To  the  north  of  the  hilly  region  that  faced  the  Black 
Sea  was  a  flat  country,  full  of  springs  and  rivulets,  and 
abounding  in  trees,  and  beyond  this  wooded  zone,  again, 
was  the  steppe  or  prairie,  a  mighty  plain,  that  stretched  five 

1  Professedly  derived  from  a  personal  visit  ;  Rubruquis,  p.  217. 

2  Rubruquis,  pp.  218-219. 


V.]  RUBRTJQUIS    IN    THE    CRIMEA  325 

days'  journey  to  the  isthmus  which  marked  the  beginning 
of  the  Tauric  Chersonese.  This  narrow  spit  of  land  was 
intersected  by  a  ditch,  running  from  the  Eastern  to  the 
Western  Sea,  from  the  Azov  to  the  Euxine,  and  affording 
a  means  of  defence  against  the  outer  world.  In  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  isthmus  were  brine-springs,  and  from 
these  the  Mongol  lords,  Batu  and  Sartach,  derived  great 
wealth.  For  all  the  neighbouring  Eussian  and  Koman 
lands,  and  many  of  the  Black  Sea  traders,  drew  their 
supply  of  salt  from  thence.1 

Eubruquis  now  pauses  to  give  an  account,  somewhat 
in  the  manner  of  Carpini,  but  less  methodical  and  elaborate, 
of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Tartars.  It  was  on  the 
third  day  after  leaving  Sudak  that  Friar  William  first 
encountered  the  masters  of  the  great  country  he  had 
begun  to  traverse  ;  the  shock  of  surprise  which  this 
meeting  left  upon  his  mind  was  like  that  on  a  man 
suddenly  transported  into  another  world  or  another 
age  of  history  ;  but  it  was  as  much  a  part  of  his  duty  to 
his  sovereign  to  describe  the  people,  as  the  country,  of 
the  terrible  and  mysterious  Mongol  Empire.'2 

These  Barbarians,  who  had  suddenly  grown  to  such 
power,  and  conquered  all  Scythia,  from  the  Danube  to 
the  rising  of  the  sun,  were  utterly  different  from  the 
nations  of  Europe  in  their  mode  of  life,  which  was  absolutely 
nomadic.  In  no  place  did  these  Tartars  make  use  of  fixed 
dwellings ;  everywhere  they  shifted  their  tents  according 
to  the  fancy  of  the  moment,  not  knowing  where  their  next 
habitation  would  be.  Yet  this  wandering  life  had  certain 
limitations.  Every  chief  or  captain,  according  to  the 
number  of  men  in  his  command,  knew  how  far  his  pasture- 
lands  extended.  In  winter  they  usually  moved  down  to 
1  Riibruquis,  pp.  219   '220.  -  Rubruquis,  pp.  220-238. 


326  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

winter  regions  in  the  South ;  in  summer  up  to  cooler  lands 
in  the  North.  The  waterless  steppes  were  only  grazed 
over  when  covered  with  snow,  for  this  snow  was  a  sub- 
stitute for  water.1 

As  to  the  homes  of  these  ISTomades,  the}7  were  tents  of 
felt,  mounted  on  a  framework  of  wicker  or  sticks,  circular 
in  shape,  and  contracting  at  the  top  to  a  little  round 
hoop,  above  which  a  sort  of  collar  projected,  serving  as 
a  chimney.  This  felt  was  often  coated  with  chalk,  clay, 
or  powdered  bone ;  it  was  usually  white,  but  sometimes 
black  ;  and  it  was  decorated,  especially  at  the  '  chimney ' 
top  and  at  the  entrance,  with  embroidered  designs  in 
colour,  sometimes  depicting  vines  and  other  trees,  some- 
times birds  and  beasts.  These  huts  were  carried  on  carts, 
and  measured  up  to  thirty  feet  in  diameter ;  as  many  as 
twenty-two  oxen 2  were  counted  by  the  author,  drawing- 
one  cart  and  tent ;  the  axle  of  this  cart  was  as  large  as 
the  mast  of  a  ship,  and  the  driver  stood  at  the  door  of 
the  house,  and  thence  managed  his  team.  For  the  trans- 
port of  their  bedding  and  valuables,  the  Tartars  made  large 
chests  of  osier  wood,  which  were  carried  separately  from 
the  tents  and  ox-waggons,  on  high  carts  drawn  by  camels. 
A  chief  or  rich  man  often  had  one  or  two  hundred  such  carts, 
and  when  he  encamped,  pitching  his  dwelling  with  the  door 
to  the  south,  he  would  station  these  carts  in  rows  like 
walls  on  each  side  of  the  tent.  In  the  case  of  a  prince 
like  Batu,  there  was  not  only  the  central  hut,  where  lie 
himself  had  his  Court,  but  separate  tents  for  each  of  his 
wives,3  and  a  number  of  smaller  dwellings  for  attendants 
and  servants.  For  the  wives  of  a  chieftain,  the  place  of 
honour  in  camping  was  to  the  west ;  inside  the  tent  of  the 

1  Rubruquis,  p.  220.  "  Numbering    twenty-six    in    this 

*  In  two  rows  of  eleven  each.  ease. 


V.]  DESCRIPTION    OF    TARTAR   MANNERS,   ETC.  327 

master,  the  women's  side  was  on  the  east  or  left,  the  men's 
on  the  west  or  right,  while  his  own  seat  or  couch  was  on 
the  north,  and  (when  sitting)  his  face  was  always  turned 
towards  the  south.  Over  his  head  was  hung  a  felt  image 
or  puppet  called  his  'brother';  above  the  chief  wife,  or 
'  mistress,'  was  another  doll,  her  '  brother ' ;  and  higher 
up,  between  the  two  dummies,  was  a  third,  considered  to 
be  the  guardian  of  the  whole  dwelling.  Other  images  of 
the  same  kind  were  hung  at  the  entrance,  one  on  the  men's 
side  with  a  mare's  tit,  one  on  the  women's  with  a  cow's 
udder;1  at  ail  festivals  these  idols  were  solemnly  sprinkled, 
beginning  with  the  'brother'  of  the  master,  and  this 
ceremony  was  followed  by  libations  to  the  various  quarters 
of  the  heavens.  First,  they  made  offering  to  the  south, 
to  do  reverence  to  the  element  of  fire  ;  then  to  the  east,  to 
do  honour  to  the  air ;  next  to  the  west,  to  show  respect  to 
the  water  ;  last  to  the  north,  in  remembrance  of  the  dead. 
Each  libation  was  thrice  repeated,  and  accompanied  with 
genuflections.  Before  drinking,  the  Head  of  the  House 
poured  a  little  on  the  ground,  or  (if  seated  on  horseback) 
on  the  horse's  mane.  At  the  entrance  of  the  great  tent 
stood  a  bench  with  a  skin  of  milk,  or  other  drink,  and 
cups,  and  this  was  specially  intended  for  the  entertainment 
of  guests.2 

The  chief  Tartar  liquors  were  Kumiss,  Kosmos,  or  mares' 
milk  in  summer,  and  a  cervisia  or  beer  of  rice,  millet,  and 
honey  in  winter ;  at  their  drinking  bouts  music  played,  and  the 
revellers  clapped  their  hands  and  danced  to  the  sound  of  the 
guitar.  Their  food  was  indiscriminate  and  often  revolting  ; 3 
but  their  skill  and  care  in  making  jars  of  ox-hide  and  shoes 

1  For  men,   among  the    Tartars, 
milked  the  mares,  women  the  cows. 

2  Rubruquis,     pp.     220-224  ;    cf. 
also  Carpini,  616,  61S-620,  745. 


s  E.g.  rats  and  mice  ;  conies  with 
long  tails  like  cats  and  marmots  are 
also  mentioned  among  'small  uu:- 
mals  "ood  to  eat.' 


328  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

of  horse-hide,  in  drying  and  mincing  iiesh,  and  in  saving 
every  particle  of  food,  even  to  the  bones,  was  admirable. 
The  making  of  Kumiss  was  a  great  feature  of  Tartar  life, 
and  Friar  William  describes  it  minutely ;  its  taste  he  com- 
pares to  that  of  milk  of  almonds  ;  its  effect  was  to  intoxicate 
weak  heads  and  to  make  the  inner  man  most  joyful.  Pure 
water  was  carefully  avoided  by  the  Nomades,  but  cows'  milk, 
butter,  and  curds  (of  which  they  made  a  special  preparation) 
were  all  used  by  them.1 

In  his  journey  Eubruquis  saw  no  deer,  and  few  hares, 
but  many  gazelles  and  wild  asses  like  mules,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  great-homed  sheep  or  argcdi,  which  no  other 
Christian  traveller  mentions  till  quite  modern  times. 
Hawks  and  falcons  played  an  important  part  in  Tartar  life. 
With  them  the  rich  procured  a  large  portion  of  their  food  ; 
the  poor  made  a  living  from  their  flocks  of  sheep,  and  the 
slaves  had  to  be  content  with  dirty  water.2 

As  to  clothes ; — silks,  gold  stuffs,  and  cotton  cloths  were 
obtained  from  Cathay  and  other  lands  in  the  East,  or  from 
Persia  and  the  South;  furs  came  from  Russia,  Great 
Bulgaria,  and  the  Bashkir  and  Kirghiz  lands  in  the  North. 
In  winter  the  Tartars  always  wore  at  least  two  robes  of  fur, 
and  often  a  third ;  the  innermost,  against  the  body,  was  of 
course  the  best  and  most  valuable  ;  the  outer  one  would  be 
of  inferior  fox,  wolf,  or  even  dog-skin.  Trousers  of  fur  were 
also  worn,  and  the  wealthy  padded  all  their  clothing  with 
silk  stuffing,  wonderfully  soft,  light,  and  warm.  For  this 
silk  the  poor  substituted  cotton  cloth  or  fine  wool,  picked 
out  of  the  coarser,  which  was  used  for  the  covering  of  tents 
or  baggage  trunks,  or  for  bedding.  Tartar  ropes  were  also 
of    wool,    with   a  third  part  of  horse-hair  intermixed,  and 

:  Rubruquis,  pp.  224-229  ;  cf.  also  I  Paris,  iv.  386-389 ;  Joinville,  147-148. 
Carpini.  637,  638,  640,  671 ;  Matthew    I        -  Rubruquis,  pp.  229,  230. 


V.]  TARTAR    DRESS,    LAWS,    AND    CEREMONIES        329 

their  felt  saddle-cloths  and  rain  cloaks  were  excellent 
inventions.1 

The  men's  fashion  of  shaving  the  head  in  a  square,  leav- 
ing a  tuft  of  hair  falling  down  to  the  eyebrows  and  tresses 
at  the  side,  which  were  plaited  together  as  far  as  the  ears ; 
the  dresses  of  the  women,  like  those  of  the  men,  only  some- 
what longer  ;  the  peculiar  head- gear  of  the  married  females, 
and  especially  of  the  wealthy  among  them ;  the  hideous 
fashions  of  face-painting  or  smearing ;  and  the  marriage 
customs 2  obtaining  in  '  Scythia,'  are  described  by  Ru- 
bruquis  in  close  agreement  with  Carpini,  but  less  adequately 
and  forcibly.  He  adds  some  curious  details  about  the 
Tartar  dread  of  thunder,3  the  separate  occupations  and 
household  duties  of  men  and  women,  and  their  mode  of 
washing.4 

The  laws  and  criminal  justice  of  the  Mongols  ottered 
many  points  of  resemblance  to  the  Europe  of  that  time. 
Torture  was  freely  used  to  compel  confession  ;  '  grand 
larceny '  was  punished  with  death,  small  thefts  with  cruel 
beatings ;  no  one  could  interfere  in  a  duel ;  adulterers,  sor- 
cerers, wizards  and  witches  (except  the  authorised  Shamans 
of  the  Mongol  State  religion)  were  liable  to  the  extreme 
penalty.  But  the  slaves  of  a  master  were  wholly  at  his  dis- 
posal ;  all  the  females  might  be  made  his  concubines ;  the 
youngest  son's  inheritance  might  include  the  harem  of  his 
father  ; :'  otherwise  no  widow  married  again.  On  the  death  of 
any  member  of  a  household,  and  especially  if  the  departed 
were  a  'Master,'   or  Head  of  a  Family,0  loud  lamentation 


1  Rubruquis,  pp.  230-232. 

-  E.g.  marriage  by  capture. 

:;  When.  e.g.,  they  wrapped  them- 
selves  in    black    felt,    expelled    all 
strangers     from     the     house,      and 
crouched  under  cover  till  the  storm    j    ambiguous  here,  p.  23*3. 
was  over. 


4  Rubruquis,  pp.  232-235. 

6  Except,  of  course,  his  own  mother. 

w  So  perhaps  we  should  amend 
Rubruquis'  language  ('if  any  one 
dies,'  etc.),  which    is   confused   and 


330  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ob. 

was  made,  as  in  the  more  southern  countries  of  the  East ;  no 
taxes  were  paid  for  a  year  ;  and  no  other  dwelling  might  he 
entered  by  the  relatives  for  that  time.  In  the  case  of  the 
nobles,  the  place  of  burial  was  always  concealed,  except  from 
those  who  watched  the  grave  and  prevented  the  approach  of 
any  stranger.  The  Komans  usually  raised  a  great  mound 
over  such  a  lord,  and  set  up  a  statue  or  image  of  him,  facing 
east,  and  holding  a  cup  in  his  hand.  Other  sepulchral  monu- 
ments were  shaped  like  small  pyramids ;  others,  again,  were 
like  towers  ;  others  like  courtyards  covered  with  flat  stones, 
round  or  square  in  shape,  with  four  high  vertical  stones  at 
the  corners  facing  the  four  points  of  the  compass  ;  others 
were  mere  empty  houses  of  stone.  Horses  were  generally 
killed  at  the  tomb,  and  their  skins  hung  up  facing  the  four 
quarters  of  the  heaven  ;  mares'  milk  was  left  for  the  dead 
man  to  drink  and  meat  for  him  to  eat.  Scrupulous  care 
was  taken  to  prevent  any  one,  except  the  soothsayers  or 
Shamans,  visiting  the  sick,  for  fear  lest  an  evil  spirit  or 
deadly  wind  should  come  with  those  who  entered.1 

Such  were  the  people  among  whom  Eubruquis  now 
found  himself.  However  different  in  other  respects  from 
Europeans,  these  Tartars  had  as  keen  an  eye  to  their  own 
interests  as  the  most  civilised  people  ;  but  as  children  of 
nature  they  showed  their  insolence,  suspicion,  inquisitiveness, 
and  greed  with  even  less  reserve.  A  crowd  of  horsemen 
surrounded  the  new-comers,  who  were  forced  to  wait  under 
the  shadow  of  their  carts ;  seeing  the  provisions  of  the 
travellers,  the  '  escort '  demanded  a  share,  and  after  tossing 
off  one  flagon  of  wine,  asked  for  another.  No  man,  they 
said,  would  come  into  a  house  with  only  one  foot.  Baffled 
by  Friar  William's  resolute  economy,  they  examined  him 
narrowly  about  his  identity,  his  credentials,  and  the  object 

1  Rubruquis,  pp.  235-238. 


V.]  FIRST    MEETINGS    WITH    TARTARS  331 

of  his  journey ;  but  for  answer  they  obtained  only  a  de- 
claration that  their  visitor  had  understood  Prince  Sartach 
was  a  Christian,  and  was  therefore  bringing  him  letters 
from  the  King  of  France.  Eubruquis  had  also  a  missive 
from  the  Latin  Emperor  of  Constantinople  to  Scatai,  who 
commanded  under  Sartach  in  the  Crimea ;  and  with  the 
help  of  this  he  procured  at  last  oxen,  horses,  and  guides. 
But  this  bargain  was  not  struck  without  a  Ion"  and  weari- 
some  wrangle,  the  Tartars  constantly  renewing  their  de- 
mands for  presents,  not  only  of  bread  and  wine,  but  of 
articles  such  as  knives,  gloves,  purses,  and  belts.  When 
refused  they  became  abusive,  calling  the  Friar  an  impostor ; 
for,  as  he  soon  found,  they  considered  themselves  lords  of 
the  world,  and  thought  there  was  nothing  which  any  one  had 
the  right  to  deny  them ;  as  for  gratitude,  even  with  a  view 
to  future  favours,  they  made  no  pretence  to  it ;  it  was 
something  that  they  abstained  from  actual  violence,  but 
their  manner  was  such  that  the  writer  felt,  at  quitting  them, 
as  if  he  had  escaped  out  of  the  midst  of  devils.1 

On  the  next  day  Eubruquis  continued  his  slow  journey 
to  the  North,  and  soon  came  upon  Scatai  and  his  men, 
who  formed  the  first  Tartar  cordon  near  this  part  of  the 
Black  Sea  coast ;  but  for  two  months,  from  the  time  they 
left  Sudak  until  they  came  to  Sartach,  the  Friar  and  his 
companions  never  once  slept  in  house  or  tent,  but  always 
beneath  their  waggons  or  on  the  open  ground.  Nor  did 
they  once  behold  a  city,  town,  or  village,  but  only  the  grave- 
mounds  of  the  Romans.8 

The  Horde  or  Camp  of  Scatai  was  on  the  move  when 
Eubruquis  encountered  it,  and  it  seemed  a  veritable  city  of 


1  Rubruquis,  pp.  238-239,  240. 

2  Rubruquis,  p.  240.  Soon  after 
entering  the  Tartar  country,  Friar 
William  had  his  first  taste  of  mares' 


milk,  which  made  him  break  out 
into  a  sweat  with  horror  and  sur- 
prise, though  afterwards  he  came 
to  think  it  very  palatable. 


332  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Qh. 

tents  and  carts,  herds  and  men,  though  the  number  of 
warriors  in  this  '  station '  was  really  below  five  hundred. 
Scraping  together  a  few  small  presents,  the  visitors  came 
into  the  presence  of  the  Chief,  who  was  seated  on  a  couch, 
holding  a  lute  in  his  hand,  with  his  wife  beside  him,  a 
hideous  and  almost  noseless  Tartar  dame,  her  face  besmeared 
with  some  black  unguent.  The  letters  of  the  Emperor  of 
Constantinople,  written  in  Greek,  were  presented ;  but  as  no 
one  could  interpret  them,  they  were  sent  back  to  Soldaia  for 
translation,  and  hence  ensued  four  days'  delay  (5th  June — 
8th  June).1  But  the  time  was  not  wholly  wasted,  for 
Kubruquis  met  with  some  Christians  2  at  this  little  Mongol 
Court,  and  made  some  progress  with  the  conversion  of  an 
enquiring  Saracen,  who  was  finally  repelled  by  a  terrible 
dilemma.  For  all  over  Tartary  it  was  held  that  no  Christian 
could  drink  mares'  milk.  This  was  equivalent  to  renouncing 
the  faith,  and  all  converts  must  choose  between  Christianity 
and  Kumiss.3 

On  Whitsunday  or  Pentecost  (7th  June),  Scatai  furnished 
the  mission  with  guides,  and  they  set  out  the  following  day 
'  due  north,' 4  towards  the  isthmus  of  Perekop,  rejoicing  as  if 
they  had  just  passed  through  one  of  the  gates  of  hell. 
Their  so-called  guides  robbed  them  audaciously,  and  progress 
with  the  ox- waggons  was  very  slow,  but  at  last  they  reached 
the  end  of  the  province,  where  the  two  seas  came  close 
together,  and  the  narrow  tongue  of  land  was  crossed  by  the 
famous  trench  already  noticed.5  On  the  mainland,  to  the 
north,  there  was  another  Mongol  camp,  full  of  men  as 
hideous  as  lepers,  whose  duty  was  to  collect  the  tax  from 
the  salt  lakes  and  springs  of  the  Crimea.6 


1  Rubruquis,  pp.  240-244. 

-  Alans,  Hungarians,  and  Rutli- 
enians,  or  Russians. 

;!  Without  which  last,  the  Moslem 
plaintively  declared,  it  was  impossible 


to  live  in  these  deserts.     Rubruquis, 
pp.  244-245. 

4  Perhaps  rather  N.N.W. 

ft  Cf.  Herodotus  IV.,  3. 

6  Rubruquis,  pp.  245-246. 


V.]         FROM  THE  CRIMEA  TO  THE  DON        333 

Thence  '  due  east,' x  over  the  vast  Continental  steppe  for 
ten  days,  to  the  next  Tartar  camp,  the  sea  lying  on  the  right 
or  south  all  the  way,  while  on  the  left  or  north  was  the 
almost  waterless  prairie,  over  thirty  days'  journey  across, 
without  forest,  hill,  or  stone,  but  affording  one  of  the  finest 
of  pasture-grounds.  ISTo  long  time  ago  the  Romans2  or 
Kipchak  were  masters  of  this  country  from  the  Danube  to 
the  Tanais,3  a  distance  of  two  months'  journey  for  a  hard 
rider.  Beyond  the  borders  of  Europe,  moreover,  all  was 
theirs  to  the  Etil,4  a  stretch  of  ten  days'  good  travel ;  and 
in  the  north  their  land  bordered,  upon  the  forests  of  Russia, 
which  extended  from  Poland  and  Hungary  to  the  Don.  The 
whole  of  this  region  had  been  ravaged  by  the  Tartars,  and 
was  still  being  ravaged  every  clay.  When  the  miserable 
Russians  could  pay  no  more  tribute,  their  oppressors  drove 
them  off  like  sheep  into  the  wilds,  and  set  them  to  herd 
their  cattle.  Beyond  the  Russian  woods  lay  Prussia,  which 
had  been  lately  conquered  by  the  Teutonic  Knights,  and  the 
traveller  supposed  they  might  easily  win  Russia  also,  if  they 
would  only  take  it  in  hand.  For  the  good  Friar  somewhat 
hastily  concludes  that  the  Tartars  would  all  fly  into  the 
deserts  if  they  heard  'that  great  priest  the  Pope'  was  ready 
to  make  a  crusade  against  them.5 

However  this  might  be,  for  the  present  there  was  nothing 
better  to  do  than  to  push  on  to  the  east  over  the  great  plain, 
with  only  earth  and  sky  in  view,  save  for  a  glimpse  now  and 
again  of  the  Sea  of  Azov  on  the  right  hand.  Even  the  waste 
had  its  advantages ;  for  there  the  travellers  escaped  the 
filthiness,  insolence,  and  importunity  of  the  Tartars,  whose 
camps  never  supplied  their  guests  with  sufficient  food,  and 
whose  chiefs  always  demanded  presents,  without  any  return.6 

1  North-east  rather.  4  Volga. 

-  Called    Valans   (Alans)   by  the  5  Rubruquis,  pp.  246-247. 
Teutons,  adds  Rubruquis,  p.  246.  6  Rubruquis,  pp.  247-248. 

-  Don. 


334  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

Soon  after  the  middle  of  July  1  Rubruquis  arrived  at  the 
Tanais  or  Don,  probably  not  far  from  the  modern  Kalateh. 
At  this  stream,  as  men  believed,  was  the  boundary  of  Europe 
and  Asia,  just  as  the  Nile  was  the  border  of  Asia  and  Africa  ; 
and  here,  on  the  line  of  the  direct  track  between  Sarai  and 
the  Crimea,  Batu  and  Sartach  had  established  a  ferry  and  a 
colony  of  Eussian  peasants  to  guard  and  manage  it.  This 
village  lay  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river ;  small  boats  were 
used  for  transport ;  and  in  order  to  carry  over  the  waggons 
two  of  these  punts  had  to  be  used,  lashed  together,  each 
bearing  one  of  the  wheels.  Another  village,  lower  down  the 
Tanais,  marked  the  place  for  winter  crossing,  when  the 
Tartar  camps  had  all  been  moved  southward  ;  and  below 
this  again  the  river  formed  '  a  great  sea 2  of  seven  hundred 
miles,'  before  it  reached  the  Pontus.  Its  course  marked 
the  Eastern  border,  not  only  of  Europe  in  general,  but  of 
Russia  in  particular ;  its  source  was  in  the  Maeotid  fens, 
which  extended  to  the  ocean  in  the  north.3  Like  its  tribu- 
taries, it  abounded  in  fish,  and  its  west  bank  was  forest- 
clad.  Where  the  writer  crossed  the  stream  it  was  about  as 
broad  as  the  Seine  at  Paris:  the  same  point  marked  the 
usual  northern  limit  of  the  annual  Tartar  march,  which  now, 
at  the  end  of  July,  and  the  season  of  rye  harvest,  began  to 
turn  south  once  more.  In  this  region  wheat  could  not 
thrive,4  but  millet  abounded.  The  dress  of  the  Eussian 
peasants  hereabout5  was  peculiar  enough  for  special  notice, 
especially  the  high-pointed  felt  caps  of  the  men,  resembling 

1  '  A  few  days  before  the  Feast  i  2  The  Azov  Sea. 
of  St.  Mary  Magdalene '  (22nd  July), 
says  Rubruquis,  p.  249  ;  he  took  from 
this  time  to  31st  July  to  traverse 
the  space  between  the  Tanais  and 
Sartach's  camp,  which  was  three  days' 
journey  from  the  Etil  or  Volga. 


3  Rubruquis  here  creates  a  new 
set  of  Maeotid  Marshes  in  the  north 
or  north-west  of  Russia. 

4  Nowhere  does  it  thrive  better. 

5  In  the  ferry  settlement. 


V.]         FROM  THE  DON  TO  THE  VOLGA        335 

German  fashions,  and  the  gowns  of  the  women,  trimmed 
from  the  feet  to  the  knee  with  fur  of  vaire  or  minever.1 

After  some  delay  and  great  difficulty,  Friar  William 
obtained  fresh  horses  and  oxen,  the  want  of  which  kept 
Mm  three  days  at  the  Don ;  the  next  problem  was  to  find 
the  camp  of  Sartach  in  a  country  so  destitute  of  people  and 
of  landmarks;  but  at  last,  on  the  31st  July,  the  mission 
arrived  at  the  Horde  of  the  '  Christian '  prince,  happy 
as  shipwrecked  mariners  on  reaching  port.  The  region 
beyond  (and  to  the  north  of)  the  Tanais,  was  truly  beautiful, 
with  rivers  and  forests,  in  whose  dense  woodland  lived  the 
Finnish  tribes  of  Moxel  and  Merdas,  of  Cheremiss  and 
Mordvin.  Among  these  races  the  former  were  pure 
Pagans,  the  latter  Saracens ;  they  had  no  towns,  but  only 
little  hamlets  in  the  forest ;  in  the  past  they  had  fought 
under  the  Mongol  banners  against  the  Germans,  and  now 
they  hoped  that  these  brave  adversaries  would  come  and 
rescue  them  from  the  Tartar  yoke.  The  Moxel  householders 
were  given  to  hospitality,  entertained  passing  merchants 
without  stint,  and  were  not  over  jealous  of  their  wives; 
their  furs  were  celebrated ;  and  honey,  wax,  hawks,  and 
herds  of  swine  were  among  their  other  treasures.2 

Beyond  the  country  of  the  Moslem  Merdas  was  the 
Etil,  the  Volga  of  Carpini  and  the  Eussians ;  Eubruquis 
had  never  set  eyes  upon  so  great  a  river ;  and  he  wondered 
'where  away  in  the  north'  such  a  mighty  mass  of  water ?J 
could  take  its  rise.  He  could  only  learn  that  it  flowed 
immediately  from  Great  Bulgaria,  or  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  present  Kazan,  and  passed  southwards  into  a  great 
lake  (the  Caspian  Sea)  which  had  a  circumference  of  four 
months'  journey,  a  mountainous  shore  on  three  sides,  and 

1  Rubniquis,  pp.  249-251.  3  Rubruquis,  p.  259. 

-  Rubruquis,  pp.  251-252. 


336 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


[Oh. 


the  steppe  country  to  the  north.  Where  he  crossed  these 
rivers,  the  Don  and  Volga,  were  not  more  than  ten  days' 
journey  distant  from  each  other,  but  in  their  lower  course 
they  diverged  widely,  the  one  flowing  into  the  Pontus,  the 
other  into  the  aforesaid  lake,  which  was  known,  among  other 
names,  as  the  Sea  of  Mil,1 

Far  away  in  the  south,  beyond  '  this  desert,'  which 
Friar  William  was  now  traversing,  lay  the  high  mountains 
of  the  Circassians,  where  the  Christian  Alans  still  main- 
tained their  resistance  to  the  Tartars  ;  the  Lesghian  Saracens, 
likewise  independent,  lived  on  the  shore  of  the  Caspian  ;  and 
beyond  Lesghia  were  the  iron  gates  of  Alexander,  at  the  pass 
of  Derbent,  through  which  the  writer  passed  on  his  home- 
ward way.  For  the  present,  he  was  travelling  in  a  country 
where  the  Kipchak  or  Koman  tribes  had  till  lately  been 
masters  ;  where  some  of  the  greatest  Mongol  camps  had  been 
fixed  since  the  invasion  of  Batu ;  and  where  strangers,  bound 
for  the  Imperial  Horde,  had  to  obtain  leave  for  their  further 
journey.2 

On  the  2nd  of  August  the  mission  was  admitted  to  an 
audience  of  Sartach,  at  a  point  three  days'  march  from  the 
Volga.  The  letters  of  King  Louis  w^ere  produced,  and  as 
Arabic  and  Syriac  translations  of  the  same  had  not  been 
forgotten,  their  tenor  was  easily  made  clear.3  The  effect 
was  good ;  permission  was  given  to  proceed  ;  and  on  the 
next  day  Eubruquis  set  out  for  the  Horde  of  Sartach's 
overlord,  the  great  Batu  himself.  Yet  he  did  not  pass 
this   stage    without    much    trouble,    from    the    greed    and 


:  Also  the  names  of  Caspian  Sea, 
and  Sea  o/Sirsan  (?  Shirvan)  are  given 
by  Rubruquis,  p.  265. 

2  Rubruquis,  pp.  252-253.  Car- 
pini,  pp.  659,  679. 

;:  At  the  camp  were  some  Armenian 


priests  who  knew  Turkish  and  Arabic, 
and  one  at  least  who  understood 
Syriac.  This  was  a  companion  of 
that  David,  who  in  1248  came  to  St. 
Louis  in  Cyprus,  on  the  mission  from 
Ilchikadai  above  referred  to. 


V.]  FROM  SARTACH  TO  THE  VOLGA        337 

curiosity  of  Sartach's  people,  and  especially  of  a  Nestorian, 
named  Koiak,  who  enjoyed  great  power  in  this  '  Court,' 
and  who  carefully  detained  most  of  the  books  and  vest- 
ments of  his  Christian  brother,  in  charge  for  him  against 
his  return.  Koiak  had  heard  of  the  King  of  France  from 
the  Sieur  Baldwin  of  Hainault,1  and  believed  him  to  be 
the  greatest  lord  among  the  Franks ;  but  this  did  not 
hinder  him  from  the  unscrupulous  appropriation  of  Frankish 
property  under  the  guise  of  safe-keeping ;  and  his  final 
advice  to  the  travellers  ('  be  patient  and  humble,')  was 
scarcely  encouraging.  One  fond  illusion  was  shattered  at 
Sartach's  camp  ;  his  visitors  were  warned  not  to  call  him 
a  Christian  any  more ; 2  he  was  a  Mongol,3  and  nothing  else. 
To  the  writer  it  even  seemed  as  if  he  mocked  at  Christians.4 

Three  days  after  resuming  the  journey  (5th-8th  August), 
Rubruquis  came  to  the  passage  of  the  Etil,  the  greatest 
of  rivers,  four  times  larger  than  the  Seine,  and  very  deep. 
This  last  portion  of  the  road  was  infested  by  brigands, 
mostly  escaped  slaves  of  the  Mongols,  such  as  Russians, 
Hungarians,  and  Alans  ;  and  apart  from  this  danger,  there 
was  the  fear  of  perishing  from  hunger  in  the  waste.  Sartach 
had  treated  the  strangers  with  even  closer  meanness  than 
was  usual  among  the  stingy  Mongols.  Not  once  in  the  four 
days  of  their  stay  did  he  offer  his  guests  any  food,  and  as 
he  gave  them  nothing  '  for  the  road,'  they  were  driven  to 
live  on  the  biscuit  they  had  brought  with  them  as  a  delicacy 
for  the  Tartar  nobles.5 


1  Whose  visit  was  probably  after 
1240,  when  he  married  a  Koman 
princess.  He  seems  to  have  been 
successful     in    reaching    the    Great 


was  not  much  observed,  even  by  the 
subjects  of  the  Khans  ;  cf.  p.  263  of 
Rubruquis'  text  in  the  Paris  Eecueil, 

vol.  iv. 


Khan's  Horde  in  Mongolia,  perhaps  I  3  '  Moal,' in  Rubruquis. 

after   the    visit   of   John    de    Piano  I  4  Rubruquis,     pp.     253-258,    259, 

Carpini.  !  263. 

2  Nor  would  he  be  called  a  Tartar,  I  5  Rubruquis,  pp.  258,  264.  26">.   • 

but  this  distinction,   however  valid,  | 


338  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  |Ch. 

On  the  Volga,  as  on  the  Don,  Friar  William  found  a 
ferry  at  the  point  where  the  steppe  track  reached  the 
stream ;  this  ferry  marked  the  extreme  northern  point 
of  Batu's  own  summer  march.  Now,  at  the  besinnins  of 
August,  the  Viceroy  was  retracing  his  steps  and  moving 
down  south  towards  the  Caspian  Sea.  This  alteration 
of  the  Horde's  movement  brought  Eubruquis  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Volga,  and  in  his  later  journey  onward  to 
Mongolia,  he  passed  close  by  the  northern  side  of  the 
mysterious  inland  water.  On  his  return  he  came  along 
its  western  coast ;  Friar  Andrew  of  Longumeau  had  already 
travelled  by  the  southern  and  eastern  shores ;  and  so  clearer 
notions  of  the  Mediterranean  of  Central  Asia  began  to  obtain 
in  Europe.  It  was  not  true,  Friar  William  remarks  with 
emphasis,  that  it  was  a  gulf  of  the  ocean.  This  opinion 
was  supported  by  the  authority  of  the  great  St.  Isidore,1 
but  it  was  baseless,  all  the  same.  To  the  south  were  the 
'  Caspian '  mountains  and  Persia ;  to  the  east  the  mountains 
of  the  Assassins  or  of  Mulehet ;  to  the  west  the  highlands  of 
the  Alans,  Lesghians,  and  Georgians,  and  the  Iron  Gates  of 
Derbent.  Finally,  to  the  north  were  the  great  plains  once 
ruled  by  the  Komans,2  but  now  by  the  Mongols,  and  on  this 
side  the  Etil  flowed  into  the  sea.3 

Paibrucpais  seems  to  have  reached  the  Volga  not  far  from 
the  present  Saratov  ;  five  days  to  the  northward  was  Great 
Bulgaria,  the  later  Kazan ; 4  and  the  Friar  was  perplexed  to 
think  what  devil  had  carried  the  religion  of  Mohammed  so 
far.      But  his  immediate  business  was  to  rind   Batu,  who 

1  One  of  Rubruquis'  chief  authori-  4  Which  he  also  estimates  at 
ties,  but  used  by  him  with  dis-  thirty  days'  journey  north  of  the 
crimination.  :    Iron  Gates  of  Derbent.      All  along 

2  Especially  those  called  Canglae.  this  route  there  was  no  city,  only 
the  Cangitae  of  John  de  Piano  Carpini.  :    some  villages  where  the  Etil  fell  into 

3  Rubruquis,  pp.  265,  266.  the  sea. 


V.]  AT    BATU'S    CAMP  339 

Lad  started  on  a  slow  southward  course  which  would  not 
be  reversed  till  January.  So  he  dropped  down  the  Volga 
in  a  boat,  until  he  overtook  the  Horde,  lying  like  a  great 
city  stretched  out  for  three  or  four  leagues  round  about  the 
Chieftain's  dwelling.  'And  as  among  the  people  of  Israel 
each  one  knew  on  which  side  of  the  Tabernacle  he  had  to 
pitch  his  tent,  so  here  men  knew  on  which  side  of  the  Court 
they  must  place  themselves.'  Only  to  the  south  of  the 
central  tent  and  its  main  entrance  no  one  could  plant 
himself.1 

Here  at  last  Friar  William  had  an  audience  of  the  Mongol 
king-maker,  who  alone  could  settle  the  question  of  his 
further  journey.  It  was  a  painful  thought  to  the  Frank 
stranger  that  he  had  lost  the  vestments  wherein  he  might 
have  come  before  the  conqueror  of  Eastern  Europe  as  be- 
fitted the  representative  of  a  great  king.  Friar  John  of 
Pelt/carp  (as  he  terms  Carpini)  had  never  appeared  in  such 
humble  guise,  lest  he  should  bring  a  slight  upon  the  Pope 
who  had  sent  him ;  Andrew  of  Longumeau  had  not  passed 
this  way  on  his  journey  to  Kuyuk  ;  -  and  Eubruquis,  in  his 
friar's  dress,  barefooted,  with  uncovered  head,  a  '  spectacle 
even  to  himself,'  could  do  little  to  maintain  the  dignity  of 
his  mission  and  of  France.  Warned  to  keep  silence  until 
invited  to  speak,  he  waited  '  the  space  of  a  miserere '  for 
the  first  word  of  the  Mongol  Prince.  Batu  was  seated  on  a 
long  divan,  gilt,  and  raised  upon  a  dais  of  three  steps,  with 
one  of  his  wives  beside  him  ;  he  looked  intently  upon  his 
visitors,  and  to  Friar  William  he  seemed  about  the  height 
of  '  my  Lord  John  of  Beaumont.' 3  The  Viceroy's  face, 
'  covered  with  red  spots,'  was  hardly  a  pleasant  sight,  but 
still    more    painful    was    his    indifference    to    religion.     For 

Rubruquis,  pp.  266-267.  :;  A  companion  of  St.  Louis  in  the 

J  Rtibruquis'  Kcu  Khan.  I    Hoi}'  Land. 


340  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

when  Kubruquis,  receiving  permission  to  address  the  throne, 
urged  him  on  bended  knees  to  seek  the  celestial  goods  of 
baptism,  he  quietly  smiled,  while  his  courtiers  broke  out 
into  laughter  and  loud  clapping  of  hands.  Finally,  after 
the  usual  enquiries  as  to  the  name,  country,  sovereign,  and 
objects  of  his  guests,  he  offered  them  Kumiss  and  dismissed 
them,  at  the  same  time  announcing  his  decision  as  to  their 
future  progress.  The  party  was  to  be  divided;  the  two 
Friars,  William  and  Bartholemew,  with  the  dragoman,1  were 
to  go  on  to  the  Great  Khan  Mangu,  and  the  clerk  Gosset 
was  to  return  to  Sartach.  But  Gosset's  superiors,  in  spite 
of  this  pronouncement,  were  detained  in  Batu's  company 
for  five  weeks,  and  followed  the  slow  wanderings  of  the 
Mongol  encampment  down  the  Volga.  Their  sufferings  were 
pitiable.  'Sometimes  my  companion2  would  say  to  me, 
almost  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  It  seems  that  I  shall  never 
get  any  food  again.'  For  the  market  which  followed  the 
Horde  was  so  far  away  that  one  could  not  reach  it,  '  having 
to  travel  afoot  from  lack  of  horses.'  After  a  time,  the 
strangers  were  relieved  by  some  Hungarian  prisoners,  '  who 
had  once  been  clerks,'  and  by  a  Christian  Koman  who  had 
been  baptised  by  certain  Franciscans  in  Hungary ;  from 
these  good  friends  they  obtained  food  and  drink ;  and  in 
return  Kubruquis  wrote  out  for  them  the  Hours  of  the 
Virgin  and  the  Office  for  the  Dead,  as  he  could  not  satisfy 
their  request  for  books.3 

Friar  William  reckoned  Batu's  company  at  five  hundred 
heads  of  families,  but  not  more  ;  from  day  to  day  he  saw 
him  riding  with  all  his  Horde,  and  so  could  make  a  fair 
estimate ;  but  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  admitted  to 
another  audience,  though  he  was  told  of  the  great  chief's 

1  '  Homo  Dei  Turginianus.'  I   mona. 

2  Apparently  Bartholemew  of  Cre-    |       s  Rubraijuis,  pp.  268-272. 


V.]  FROM    BATU    TO    THE    GREAT    KHAN  34  L 

constant  enquiries  about  his  visitors  from  the  West.  It  was 
not  until  the  14th  of  September  that  arrangements  were 
made  for  their  departure.  They  were  then  furnished  with 
a  guide,  who  warned  them  with  a  contemptuous  air  of  the 
length  and  cold  of  the  journey  ('  four  months  in  such  weather, 
that  stones  and  trees  were  often  split  with  frost'),  and 
threatened  to  abandon  them  on  the  way  if  they  showed 
any  weakness.  Next  day,  the  15th  of  September,  they  set 
out,  furnished  with  garments  suitable  for  so  extreme  a 
climate — sheepskin  coats  and  breeches,  boots  and  hoods  of 
Tartar  fashion,  felt  stockings,  and  other  necessaries.1 

Their  course  was  '  ever  Eastward '  till  the  Feast  of  All 
Saints  (1st  of  November),  and  all  the  way  they  traversed  the 
land  once  inhabited  by  the  Kanglae,  or  Eastern  Komans, 
having  on  the  left  or  north  the  '  Great  Bulgaria '  of  the 
Middle  Volga,  and  on  the  right  or  south  the  Caspian  Sea. 
Twelve  days'  journey  from  the  camp  of  Batu,  they  came  to 
the  Jagac,  Yaik,  or  Ural  Paver,  which  flowed  from  the  land 
of  Pascatir  (or  the  Bashkirs)  in  the  North,  and  like  the  Etil, 
fell  into  the  Caspian.  The  language  of  this  people  of 
Pascatir,  Eubruquis  believed,  was  the  same  as  that  of 
the  Hungarians ;  they  were  a  purely  pastoral  race,  owning 
no  fixed  dwellings,  and  bordering  on  the  west  upon  Great 
Bulgaria.  The  Bulgarians,  indeed,  had  some  small  cities* 
but  going  eastward  there  were  no  more  towns  to  be  met 
with  ;  all  the  tribes  were  shepherd  and  Nomacle  in  their 
habits.  From  Pascatir  (otherwise  '  Old  '  or  '  Great ' 
Hungary )  once  went  forth  the  Huns,  '  who  were  after- 
wards the  Hungarians,' 2  and  ravaged  as  far  as  France 
and  Egypt ;  with  their  iieet  horses  they  crossed  the 
barriers  of   Alexander   in    the    Caucasus ;    and    with    them 

1  Rubruquis,  pp.  273-274.  i  Great  Hungary  '(emendation  for  'Bul- 

"  'Hence  it  is  the  same  land   as   |  gavia'),  Rubruquis,  p.  274. 


342  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

went  the  Bulgars,  the  Vandals,  and  the  Wallachians.  The 
Bulgars  of  the  Danube,  near  Constantinople,  were  of  this 
stock.  The  Vlaks,  Illaks,  or  Wallachians,  lived  originally 
near  the  Bashkirs,  and  from  a  mingling  of  these  races  came 
the  people  of  the  Land  of  Assan,1  south  of  the  Danube.2 

The  languages  of  the  Russians,  Poles,  Bohemians,  Vandals, 
and  Slavons,  adds  Rubruquis  with  perfect  correctness, 
were  related ;  all  these  nations  were  supporters  of  the  Huns 
(and  Hungarians)  in  old  days,  and  of  the  Tartars  in  later  time. 
Here  the  Friar  begins  to  wander  a  little,  blaming  the  unlucky 
Slavs  for  the  very  thing  they  had  struggled  against  so 
desperately  ;  but  he  was  naturally  sure  of  his  information,  as 
he  had  it  from  those  holy  men,3  the  Dominican  Missionaries, 
who  had  been  among  the  Bashkirs  before  the  advent  of  the 
Tartars.4  Since  then,  '  Pascatir '  had  been  conquered  by 
the  neighbouring  (Saracen)  Bulgars,  and  some  of  the  people 
had  become  Moslems.5 

1  So  we  rode  through  the  land  of  the  Kanglae,5  resumes 
the  narrative,  '  from  the  Feast  of  the  Holy  Cross  to  that  of 
All  Saints  (15th  September  to  1st  November),  and  nearly 
every  day  we  went,  as  near  as  I  reckon,  about  as  far  as  from 
Paris  to  Orleans,0  or  sometimes  more,  according  to  our  supply 
of  horses.  Sometimes  we  changed  these  two  or  three  times 
a  day ;    at  other  times,  we  went  two  or  three  days  without 

1  This   is   the    Southern    Bulgaria   i    Cronicon,     564,    under    a. d.     1237. 


here   named  after  its   famous   Chief 
Asen. 

2  Rubruquis,  pp.  274-275. 

3  The  studied  .misrepresentation  of 
things  Slavonic  in  the  "West  is 
largely  hased  on  old  Roman  Church 


Four  preaching  friars,  says  Alberic, 
hearing  of  the  intended  Tartar  attack 
upon  Romania  and  Hungary,  tra- 
velled for  a  hundred  days  as  far 
as  Old  Hungary,  and  told  on  their 
return    how    the    Tartars,    as    they 


prejudice  against  Eastern  non- Papal  '    found,  had  already  invaded  and  sub- 
Ohristianity.  jugated  Old  Hungary. 

4  A  mission  we  only  know  of  from  i        s  Rubruquis,  pp.  275-276. 
Rubruquis,  except  for  a  vague  refer-  6  Ninety-five  kilometres. 

ence    in     Alberic    Trois    Fontaines, 


V.]  HARDSHIPS    OF    THE    JOURNEY  343 

any  change.  Out  of  twenty  or  thirty  horses  that  we  had 
(to  choose  from),  we,  as  strangers,  always  got  the  worst. 
True,  they  gave  me  a  strong  horse,  because  of  my  weight,  but 
I  dared  not  ask  if  he  rode  easily  or  no,  nor,  indeed,  could  we 
venture  to  complain  about  anything.  So  we  had  to  bear 
great  hardships,  sometimes  riding  two  on  one  horse ; 
hungry  and  thirsty,  cold  and  weary,  oftener  than  one  could 
reckon.'  Not  until  evening  did  they  have  proper  food,  a 
shoulder  and  ribs  of  mutton,  and  some  meat  broth,  which  the 
half-starved  travellers  found  invigorating  and  even  delicious ; 
but,  besides  this,  they  had  only  some  millet  gruel  at  the 
beginning  of  the  day.  On  Fridays  they  had  to  break  their 
fast,  for  the  choice  was  mutton  or  nothing.  At  times  this 
meat  had  to  be  eaten  half  cooked,  or  nearly  raw,  for  the 
only  fuel  was  the  dung  of  animals,  a  few  briars,  or,  still  more 
rarely,  a  little  brushwood  from  the  banks  of  streams.  At 
first  their  guide  was  at  no  pains  to  conceal  his  contempt  for 
his  moneyless  comrades,  but  he  gradually  came  to  know  and 
like  them  better,  and  then  would  often  take  them  '  to  pray ; 
at  the  camp  of  some  rich  Mongol  close  to  their  route. 
Many  of  these  wealthy  Xomades  were  descendants  of 
Ghenghiz  Khan,  'scattered  all  over  this  vast  sea-like  plain'  ; 
they  knew  little  of  any  world  but  their  own  prairies  ;  and  yet, 
like  other  Tartars,  they  catechised  their  visitor  with  a  host 
of  impertinent  questions  : — Whether  the  Pope  were  really  five 
hundred  years  old  or  no ;  whether  the  Franks  had  many 
cattle,  sheep,  and  horses ;  what  the  ocean  sea  was  like, 
about  which  their  visitor  talked  so  much ;  and  how  it  could 
possibly  be  endless,  without  shores.1 

On  the  31st  of  October  the  mission  somewhat  altered  its 
route  ;    from  due  east  to  south-east,  as  Eubruquis  describes 
it.     Thirty-four  days  had  elapsed  since  he  crossed  the  Ural 
1  Rubruquis,  pp.  276-278. 


344  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

River,  probably  below  Uralsk,  and  we  may  fairly  suppose 
that  he  had  long  passed  the  '  huge  wide  lagoon '  of  the  Sea 
of  Aral,1  and  had  arrived  (at  least)  in  the  longitude  of  the 
modern  Perovski,  on  the  Lower  Syr  Daria.  From  this 
point,  perhaps  near  Julek,  the  envoys  made  their  way  'by 
certain  mountains '  due  south 2  for  seven  days.  These 
mountains  wTere  possibly  the  north-west  outliers  of  the 
Ala-Tau,  or  Alexander  Range,  separating  the  Syr  Daria 
basin  from  that  of  the  steppe  river  Chu  ;  and  this  note  of 
the  traveller's  shows  that  he  had  now  almost  traversed  the 
great  featureless  steppe  of  the  Aralo-Caspian  lowland,  and 
was  approaching  the  high  country  of  Central  Asia.3 

On  the  seventh  day  of  their  new  direction,  the  travellers 
sighted  very  lofty  mountains  to  the  south,4  and  entering  a 
plain,  irrigated  like  a  garden,  reached  a  Moslem  town  called 
Kinchat  or  Kenjek,  in  the  Talas  Valley  (8th  November).5 
Here  the  Mongol  commander  came  out  to  meet  their  guide, 
who,  as  a  young  Tartar  noble,  must  be  received  with  befitting 
honour ;  the  food  and  drink  here  offered  was  very  welcome 
(especially  the  ale,  a  mark  of  respect  to  the  messengers  of 
the  Khan) ;  and  the  little  band  seems  to  have  taken  a  short 
rest  at  this  station.  Meantime,  from  the  29th  of  September, 
the  frost  had  begun,  and  ice  was  on  the  roads.  Rubruquis 
vainly  enquired  the  name  of  the  'province'  he  had  now 
readied,    but  he  could  only  learn  the  designation    of   the 

1  Which,  unlike  Oarpini,  he  does       a  time, 
not  notice,  even  indirectly. 

2  For   due  south  we    should    read 
probably  south-east. 


4  Probably  these  mountains  were 
the  modern  Alexander  range,  running 
from  about  Aulie-Ata  to  the  western 


3  Rubruquis,  p.  278.     It  is  at  this   j    end  of  Lake  Issik-Kul. 


point  he  mentions  the  wild  ass  of  the 
desert  (called  Killan  by  the  Mongols) 
and  its  extreme  fleetness — a  last  re- 
membrance of  the  vast  uncultivated 


1  A  steppe  river  in  its  lower  course, 
lost  in  the  plains  on  its  way  to  join 
the  Chu  ;  it  rises  on  south  slopes  of 
the  Alexander  range,  and  flows  past 


steppe  which  he  was  now  leaving  for       Aulie-Ata. 


v.] 


THE  TEUTON  CAPTIVES  AT  BOLAT 


345 


town.  Kinchat  was  very  small,  but  lay  in  a  well-irrigated 
neighbourhood,  which  produced  the  grape,  and  absorbed  so 
much  water  from  the  Eiver  Talas,  that  it  '  flowed  not  into 
any  sea,  but  was  sucked  into  the  ground,  forming  many 
marshes.' x 

On  the  next  day  (9th  November)  the  mission  came  to 
another  village  nearer  the  mountains,  which  Eubruquis,  from 
his  knowledge  of  the  classical  geographers,  supposed  to  be 
the  Caucasus  of  Central  Asia.  This  (according  to  common 
belief)  ran  right  across  the  continent  from  west  to  east, 
and  the  envoy  supposed  that  he  had  already  crossed  it  in 
his  passage  of  the  southernmost  spurs  of  the  Ural  range. 
Near  the  point  they  had  now  reached  was  the  town  of 
Talas,  an  important  commercial  centre  for  many  centuries, 
where  in  recent  times  had  been  planted  a  colony  of  Teuton2 
slaves,  belonging  to  Prince  Buri,  who  perished  in  a  family 
quarrel  with  Batu.  These  slaves  had  since  been  transported 
by  Mangu  Khan,  with  Batu's  permission,  to  a  certain 
town  called  Bolat,  a  month's  journey  eastward,  where 
they  were  employed  in  the  mining  of  gold3  and  the 
manufacture  of  arms.  Later  on,  in  his  progress  eastward, 
Eubruquis  passed  within  '  perhaps  three  days '  of  Bolat, 
which  may  be  located  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lake  Sairam, 
slightly  to  the  north  of  the   modern    Kulja.     The    mission 


1  Rubruquis,  pp.  278-279. 

2  Visited  by  Hiouen-Thsang  in  the 
early  years  of  the  seventh  century, 
and  by  many  other  Chinese  as  well  as 
Moslem  travellers.  Zemarchus,  the 
Byzantine,  passed  through  Talas  on 
his  journey  in  571,  and  here  the 
Turkish  Khan  Dizabul  entertained 
his  Roman  friends  at  a  famous  ban- 
quet, when  defiance  was  hurled  at 
the  common  enemy,  Persia  (Menander 


Protector,  228)  ;  Dawn  of  Modern 
Geography,  i.  186-8.  Its  site  is  now 
uncertain,  but  it  cannot  have  been  very 
far  from  the  valley  of  the  Syr  Daria, 
and  Rubruquis  believed  it  lay '  beyond' 
his  route  in  the  direction,  of  the  moun- 
tains, six  daj7s!  journey  ;  conjecture  at 
present  hovers  between  the  two  ex- 
tremes of  Turkestan  and  Aulie-Ata. 

3  A  tribute  to  the  traditional  skill 
of  Germans  in  mining-work. 


346  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

was,  however,  forbidden  to  visit  this  Teuton  colony,  either 
going  or  returning.1 

Still  proceeding  eastwards  and  skirting  the  northern 
slopes  of  the  Alexander  range,  the  Friar  now  entered  the 
proper  domain  of  the  Great  Khan  Mangu,2  and  after  a  few 
days,  arrived  at  the  Alps  or  High  Land,  where  the  Kara- 
Khitai  used  to  live ;  here  the  party  had  to  cross  a  great  river 
(the  Hi)  in  a  ferry-boat.  Thence  along  a  valley,  past  a  ruined 
camp,  with  mud  walls,3  in  a  district  not  wholly  unfertile, 
through  a  '  goodly  town '  called  Equius,  inhabited  by  Persian- 
speaking  Saracens,4  and  across  the  spurs  projecting  from  the 
mountains  in  the  great  Southern  range,5  into  a  beautiful 
plain,  with  high  mountains  on  the  right,  and  on  the  left 
a  sea  or  lake 6  twenty-five  days'  journey  in  circumference. 
The  whole  of  this  plain  was  fertilised  by  streams  that  flowed 
from  the  adjoining  mountains 7  into  the  lake,  whose  southern 
shore  was  now  traversed  by  Rubruquis,  as  the  northern  side 
was  passed  by  him  on  the  return  journey.  Both  to  the  north 
and  south  were  lofty  heights,  and  in  the  plain  had  once 
been  not  a  few  towns,  but  most  of  these  had  been  destroyed 
by  the  Mongols,  to  increase  the  area  of  pasture  land,  for 
there  was  excellent  pasturage  in  that  country.  However, 
one    large    market-city   remained,  a   place   named    Kailak, 

1  Rubrucpuis,  pp.  279-280. 

2  Rubruquis  notes,  however,  that 
in  practical  power  Batu  was  superior. 
and  his  subjects,  being  more  powerful,    \    Rivers  or  Semiretchi,  is  a  great  closed 


5  The  Ala-tau. 

,;  The     Ala-Kul.       This    lake     in 
the   Russian  Province  of  the  Seven 


were  less  careful  to  show  honour  to 
Mangu's  messengers  than  Mangu's 
people  to  Batu's  envoys.  Mangu,  of 
course,  was  really  the  nominee  of 
Batu  for  the  titular  headship  of  the 
Tartars. 

3  Near  the  modern  Kopal. 

4  We  may  conjecture  that  this 
locality  corresponded  to  the  modern 
Lepsinsk,  a  little  north  of  Kopal. 


basin,  north-east  of  Kopal  and  190 
kilometres  east  of  Lake  Balkhash ; 
it  is  75  kilometres  from  north  to 
south  :  36  kilometres  from  east  to 
west.  Its  area  is  1950  square  kilo- 
metres, which  is  increasing  of  late 
years.  It  lies  237  metres  above  sea 
level.  Its  principal  affluent  is  the 
Chamanti. 

7  Now  the  '  Zunwarian  Ala-tau.' 


V.]  FROM    THE    STEPPES    INTO    THE    MOUNTAINS       347 

frequented  by  many  traders ;  and  here  the  company  rested 
twelve  days,  till  they  were  joined  by  a  'certain  secretary' 
of  Batu's,  who,  along  with  the  travellers'  guide.,  was  to  settle 
various  matters  at  Mangu's  Horde.1 

This  country  had  once  possessed  a  language  and  letters  of 
its  own  in  which  Nestorian  books  and  rituals  had  been 
composed  ;  but  now  it  was  all  inhabited  by  Turcomans ; 
and  here  for  the  first  time  Bubruquis  saw  the  '  Idolatrous  ' 
Shamanists  and  Buddhists,  of  whom  he  gives  a  long  account. 
Among  the  'sects'  or  nations  of  this  category  the  most  edu- 
cated, and  (to  a  Christian)  the  nearest  to  the  True  Faith,  were 
the  Uigurs,  living  in  the  mountains  east  of  the  Ala-kul 
basin,  and  both  in  race  and  doctrine  a  mixture  of  Tartar, 
ISTestorian,  and  Saracen,  or,  in  other  words,  of  Turco-Tartar, 
Syrian,  and  Persian  elements.  In  Kailak  the  Idolaters  had 
three  temples  ;  two  of  these  the  Friar  entered,  '  to  see  their 
foolishness  '  ;  -  he  noticed  that  they  worshipped  towards  the 
north,  and  that  the  Moslems  abhorred  this  superstition 
so  much  that  they  would  not  even  discuss  the  subject  with 
him.  Later  on,  at  Karakornm,  he  saw  a  colossal  image  (of 
Buddha)  '  as  large  as  we  paint  Saint  Christopher,'  and  heard 
of  another,  still  greater,  in  Cathay,  which  could  be  seen  at 
a   distance   of   two    days'  journey,   as   he   was    told    by    a 

1  Eubruquis.  pp.  280-281.  j    and  Mekrits  ;  of.  Carpmi,  645. 

-  In  one  of  these  he  talked  with  a 
man  who  had  a  little  cross  in  ink 
upon  his  hand,  and  who  said  he  was 
a  Christian.  Heyd,  Commerce  du 
Levant,  ii.  65,  concludes  that  both 
Uigurs  and  Naimans  had  many 
Christians  among  them,  but  were 
not,  as  a  whole,  Christian  ;  thus 
preferring  the  view  of  Carpini,  '  an 
aeuter  observer  than  Rubruquis.' 
The  latter s  '  Krit  and  Merkit'  are 
probably   equivalent  to    the   Keraits 


The  Keraits  were  Nestorian  Chris- 
tians at  any  rate  in  part ;  they  lived 
to  the  south-east  of  Lake  Baikal,  on 
the  rivers  Orkhon  and  Tula.  Abul- 
faraj  gives  a  story  of  their  conversion 
by  the  Nestorian  Bishop  of  Merv  in 
1007.  The  Merkits  or  Mekrits  seem 
to  have  been  still  closer  to  Baikal, 
in  the  valley  of  the  lover  Selenga  : 
cf.  d'Ohsson,  i.  54  ;  Rockhill's  Rubru- 
quis, Hak.  Soc,  p.  111. 


348 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


Nestorian  who  had  just  come  from  the  Far  East.  The  Uigurs 
used  bells  like  those  of  Christians,  and  their  shaven  celibate 
priests,  dressed  in  saffron-coloured  robes,  and  living  in 
communities,  had  many  points  of  likeness  to  the  Catholic 
sacerdotal  and  coenobitic  orders.1  It  was  probably  on  this 
account,  he  adds,  that  Eastern  Christians  did  not  use  bells, 
except  indeed  the  Eussians  or  Eutheni,  and  the  Greeks  in 
Khazaria  or  the  Crimea.  Their  beads  recalled  to  him  the 
Christian  rosaries ;  their  repetitions  of  the  Sacred  Formula, 
Om  mani  joadme  hum,  reminded  him  of  Latin  Prayers  for 
which  men  '  expected  as  many  rewards  from  God  as  they 
remembered  God  in  saying  them.'  The  Lama  hats  or  mitres, 
barbarian  as  they  were,  and  the  shaven  faces  under  them, 
almost  made  the  stranger  for  a  moment  think  that  he  had 
come  among  the  Franks  once  more.  Their  very  '  palls '  or 
stoles  were  like  those  worn  by  deacons  of  the  Western 
Church  in  Lent.2 

The  writing  of  the  Uigurs,  which,  like  Chinese,  ran  from 
top  to  bottom  of  a  page,  the  lines  following  one  another  from 
left  to  right,3  had  been  adopted  by  the  Mongols,  and  it  was 
in  this  script  that  Mangu  Khan  wrote  to  King  Louis. 
Their  temples  were  full  of  pictures  and  sacred  sentences 
of  magic  virtue,  hung  up  on  separate  slips ;  like  the  ancient 
Pagans,  they  burnt  their  dead,  placing  the  ashes  at  the  tops 
of  pyramids.  Those  Mongols  who  had  conformed  to  the 
Idolatry  of  the  Uigurs  nevertheless  kept  up  much  of  their 
old  wizardry  or  Shamanism,  especially  venerating  their 
ancestors  under  the  form  of  felt  images,  guarded  by  sooth- 
sayers, and  placed  in  special  carts  when  the  encampment 


1  Their  religious  silence  in  choir 
puzzled  Rubruquis  not  a  little,  and  he 
tried  in  vain  to  make  them  speak. 

-  Rubruquis,  pp.  282-286. 

3  The  Tanguts,  on  the  other  hand, 


says  Rubruquis,  wrote  from  right  to 
left,  and  from  below  to  above,  like 
Arabic.  The  Tibetan  mode  of  writing 
was  like  the  Latin,  and  the  characters 
were  similar  (?). 


V.]        DESCRIPTION   OF   THE    UIGURS,  TANGUTS,  ETC.      349 

was  on  the  move,  or  arranged  in  circles  within  a  house  or 
tent 1  when  the  Horde  had  '  set  down  its  dwellings.' 2 

On  the  other  band,  those  Uigurs,  who  lived  much  among 
Christians  or  Mussulmans,  had  mostly  become  worshippers 
of  one  only  God.  To  Rubruquis  this  people  was  of 
especial  interest,  as  inhabiting  the  cities  which  first  obeyed 
Ghenghiz  Khan  and  occupying  the  mountain  land  to  the 
south  of  the  pasture  country  of  Prester  John.  Their  writing- 
was  known  to  almost  all  the  Nestorians  ;  their  language  was  the 
foundation  of  all  the  Koman  and  Turkish  dialects  ; 3  and  thus 
their  civilisation  had  left  its  mark  on  the  brutal  conquerors 
who  had  almost  exterminated  them.  Beyond  the  Uigurs  to  the 
eastward,  but  in  the  same  mountain  region,  lived  the  Tanguts 
(of  Kansu),  once  victorious  over  Ghenghiz  himself,  and 
famous  for  their  yaks — very  strong  cattle  with  hairy  tails 
like  horses,  which  drew  the  big  tent-dwellings  of  the 
Mongols.  These  strange  beasts  were  lower  on  their  legs 
than  other  oxen,  but  much  stronger ;  even  their  bellies  and 
backs  were  covered  with  hair.  Their  horns  were  slender, 
long,  curved,  and  so  sharp  that  the  points  were  always  cut 
off.  Their  cows,  like  bulls,  furiously  attacked  red  objects, 
and  no  one  could  milk  them  without  a  song.  Beyond  the 
Tanguts  again  were  the  misshapen  and  bestial  folk  of  Tibet, 
who  once  made  a  practice  of  eating  their  dead  parents,  and 
still  used  handsome  drinking-cups  fashioned  from  the  skulls 
of  their  ancestors,  so  that  they  might  have  them  in  mind 
even  in  the  midst  of  their  merry-making.  Gold  abounded 
in  this  land,  but  no  one  hoarded  it,  fearing  the  vengeance  of 
God  on  such  covetousness.4 

Continuing  his  account   of   Asiatic   peoples,    liubruquis 

1  Here  no  stranger  might  enter.    '  I  2  Rubruquis,  pp.  286-28S. 

tried,'  says  Rubruquis,  '  to  force  my  s  Rubruquis,  p.  289. 

way    into   one    hut,    but  was   most   i  4  Rubruquis,  pp.  288-289. 
rudely  treated,'  p.  288. 


350  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

next  tells  us  about  the  '  Longa '  aucl  '  Solanga,'  of  Manchuria 
and  Korea,  whose  envoys  he  saw  at  the  Mongol  Court, 
dragging  with  them  huge  carts  harnessed  to  six  oxen 
apiece.  These  people,  the  '  Solanges '  of  Carpini,  the 
1  Sulangka '  of  Moslem  geographers,  apparently  inhabited 
much  of  the  basin  of  the  Amur  Proper,  as  well  as  those 
of  its  great  tributaries,  the  Zeya,  Bureya,  Sungari,  and 
Ussuri.  They  were  small  and  swarthy,  like  Spaniards, 
and  wore  tunics  and  hats1  somewhat  in  the  fashion  of 
dalmatics  and  bishop's  mitres,  evidently  resembling  the  head- 
dress which  has  survived  in  Korea.  At  Court  their  envoy 
always  carried  an  ivory  tablet,  and  in  speaking  with  the 
Great  Khan  or  other  magnates,  he  appeared  to  read  off  from 
this  what  he  had  to  say.2 

Besides  these  quaint  people,  the  Friar  heard  of  another 
race  called  Muc,  who  dwelt  in  towns,  possessed  their  herds 
in  common,  and  were  very  suspicious  of  strangers,  not  permit- 
ting them  to  go  about  the  country ;  the  very  scent  of  an  Out- 
lander,  they  declared,  would  madden  the  cattle.  Here  perhaps 
we  have  an  allusion  to  the  non-Chinese  aboriginals  of  Kansu, 
of  Szechuen,  and  of  Yunnan,  who  now  as  then  lived  in 
fortified  settlements  on  mountain- tops,  herded  their  flocks 
together  in  the  valleys  near  at  hand,  and  practised  a  rigorous 

people  called  Caulc  and  Manse,  who 
are  evidently  the  Kaoli,  or  reigning 
dynasty  of  Korea ;  in  1231  Korea 
had  submitted  to  Ghenghiz,  and  the 
king  fled  to  '  islands  near  the  con- 
tinent,' perhaps  those  which  Rubra - 
quis  mentions  as  joined  to  the  main- 
land by  ice  in  winter.  In  12-41 
Korea,  alter  a  revolt,  submitted  again, 
and  sent  a  mission  to  the  Mongol 
Court ;  this  mission  may  have  been 
seen  by  the  Master  William  of  Paris, 
who  told  Rubruquis  of  it. 
2  Rubruquis,  pp.  290-291. 


1  These  hats  were  slightly  lower  in 
front  than  behind,  not  pointed  but 
square  at  the  top,  and  made  of  stiff 
black  buckram,  polished  so  that  it 
shone  in  the  sun  like  a  mirror  or 
burnished  helmet.  At  the  temples 
were  long  strips  of  the  same  stuff, 
fastened  to  the  mitre,  and  standing 
out  in  the  wind  like  horns.  Some- 
times these  horns  were  folded  across 
the  mitre  over  the  temples,  like  hoops 
over  the  head,  and  made  handsome 
ornaments.  Later  in  his  work  Rubru- 
quis  refers    to    the    islands   of    the 


V.] 


DESCRIPTION    OF    CATHAY,    ETC. 


351 


restraint,  not  unconnected  with  money  profits,  on  any 
foreigners  who  came  among  them.1 

Finally,  in  the  same  part  of  the  world,  was  Great 
Cathay,2  anciently  called  the  Land  of  the  Seres  ; 3  thence 
came  those  finest  of  silk  stuffs  styled  Seric ;  and  there  also 
was  a  town  named  Seres.  One  of  the  cities  of  this 
country  was  said  to  have  walls  of  silver  and  towers 
of  gold ; 4  many  of  its  provinces  were  still  independent  of 
the  Mongols.  The  Cathayans  were  small  in  stature,  with  the 
tiniest  of  eyes,  a  highly  nasal  speech,  and  great  skill  in  all 
artisan  crafts,  fostered  by  an  unbending  hereditary  tradition.5 
Their  land  was  on  the  shore  of  the  ocean ;  it  possessed  vines, 
but  rice  was  used  in  preference  to  grapes  for  the  making 
of  wine.  Here  paper  money  was  in  use,  and  the  writing  of 
the  people  was  performed  with  a  brush  like  a  painter's.  In 
one  figure  they  could  combine  the  several  letters  of  a  whole 
word.  Their  doctors  were  well  acquainted  with  the  virtues 
of  herbs,  but  used  no  diuretics  ;  this  Rubruquis  had  seen 
lor  himself.'-'  Many  of  this  folk  lived  at  Karakorum,  and 
those  that  were  vassals  of  the  Mongol  Khan  paid  an 
immense  annual  tribute,  no  less  than  fifteen  thousand  marks 
a  day,  without  counting  supplies  of  food,  and  silk. 

All  these  nations,  given  to  idolatry,  from  Uigur-land  to 
Cathay,  dwelt  on  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Trans-Asian 
Caucasus,7  as  far  as  the  Eastern  Ocean,  but  on  the  south 
of  that  Scythia  which  was  inhabited  by  the  shepherd 
Mongols,  lords  and  masters  of  all  the  races  now  described. 

Scattered  among  them,  and   living  after   their    manner, 


!  Rubruquis,  p.  291. 

J  Or  Northern  China,  pp.  291-292. 

:;  An  identification  which  Rubru- 
tjuis,  rightly  enough,  is  the  first  to 
make  explicit,  p.  291. 

4  Singanfu  (?). 


■'  '  According  to  custom,  all  sons 
followed  the  same  trade  as  their 
lathers,'  p.  292. 

0  It  is,  however,  false. 

7  In  the  classical  exaggeration  of 
this  term,  cf.  Rubruquis,  p.  292. 


352 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


[Oh. 


but  in  reality  of  utterly  different  race  and  habits,  were 
to  be  found  Nestorians  and  Saracens,  as  far  as  Cathay.  In 
the  last-named  the  ISTestorians  possessed  colonies  in  fifteen 
cities,  a  bishop  in  one  town,1  and  great  influence  everywhere, 
but  as  to  the  Christianity  and  character  of  these  ISTestorians 
the  less  said  the  better.2  They  were  unutterably  depraved, 
often  Pagans  or  Saracens  in  manners  and  customs,  sometimes 
polygamists,  usually  simoniacs,  worse  than  the  Mongols 
themselves.  Words  failed  to  describe  their  imposture, 
drunkenness,  and  ignorance;  one  of  their  priests,  well  known 
to  Eubruquis,  affected  to  expel  devils  with  simple  purgatives, 
being  himself  no  cleric,  but  a  cloth-weaver,  innocent  of 
the  rudiments  of  letters.  Others  practised  sorcery  with 
swords,  ashes,  stones,  or  twigs ;  they  even  used  chalices 
plundered  from  Christian  lands  in  their  heathenish  divinations; 
it  was  true  they  had  induced  the  Imperial  family 3  to  show 
honour  to  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  and  to  observe  the  fast 
of  Jonah  (or  the  three  days  before  Septuagesima),  but  this 
was  no  atonement  for  their  evil  lives  and  dogmatic  short- 
comings. For  they  ate  meat  on  Fridays,  kept  this  day  as 
a  festival,  like  the  Mohammedans,  had  a  married  priesthood, 

Khan,  who  sent  his  children  to  be 
blessed  by  him.  But  Chabot  points 
out  how  a  Nestorian  envoy  from 
Arghun,  Rabban  Sauma,  visiting 
Rome  in  1288,  was  allowed  by  Pope 
Nicholas  IV.  to  celebrate  Mass, 
and  was  given  Communion  on  Palm 
Sunday  by  the  Pontiff  himself.  To 
the  Nestorian  Patriarch,  Mar  Jabala- 


1  Segin  (Rubruquis,  p.  292),  ap- 
parently Singanfu  or  Chang'an,  the 
capital  of  China  under  the  Han 
dynasty  and  the  site  of  the  famous 
Nestorian  inscription. 

-  Cf.  Rubruquis,  pp.  29.3,  323-324, 
320.  Among  other  things,  Rubruquis 
accuses  them  of  giving  the  bene- 
diction of  the  Christian  religion 
without  any  proof  of  the  acceptance 
of  the  Faith.  Thus,  among  other 
things,  he  mentions  the  arrival  of 
a  Nestorian  monk  (who  was  a 
prudens  homo  into  the  bargain) 
at  Karakorum,  his  introduction 
at  Court  by  the  Grand  Secretary 
Bulgai,  and  the  favour  of  the  Grand 


ba  III.,  valuable  papal  presents  were 
sent  at  this  same  time,  e.g.  a  tiara, 
ling,  and  vestments. 

3  Mangu's  eldest  son  had  for  tutor 
a  Nestorian  priest  named  David,  who, 
whatever  he  taught  his  pupil,  at  any 
rate  learnt  from  the  Tartars  the  art  of 
hard  drinking. 


V-]  RUJBRUQTJLS    CROSSES    THR    DIVIDING    RANGE        353 

and  made  use  of  sacred  books  in  the  Syriac  tongue,  a  language 
which  they  had  now  forgotten,  and  only  read  and  chanted 
like  parrots.  So  with  a  parting  outburst  of  Eoman  hatred 
against  the  Oriental  Christianity  whose  depression  was  so 
long  a  cause  of  secret  satisfaction  to  the  Latin  Hierarchy, 
the  Friar  returns  to  his  Itinerary.1 

On  the  30th  of  November  the  mission  left  Kailak,  passed 
through  a  Nestoriau  village,2  and  after  three  days  came  to 
the  head  of  Lake  Ala-Kul,  tempestuous  as  the  ocean.3  The 
water  was  brackish ;  and  from  the  shores  the  travellers  saw 
the  famous  '  Island  peak  ' 4  in  the  bosom  of  the  lake.  From 
lofty  mountains  in  the  south-east  a  valley  opened  towards 
the  Ala-Kul ;  and  among  these  mountains  another  lake  was 
visible,5  from  which  flowed  a  river,  and  along  whose  basin 
blew  a  wind  of  terrible  strength.  This  valley  they  crossed, 
not  without  fear  lest  the  blast  should  carry  them  into 
the  water  below ;  then,  following  a  northerly  direction 
towards  some  heights  covered  with  deep  snow,  they  hastened 
their  pace  so  as  to  put  two  days'  journey  into  one  and 
arrive  sooner  at  the  Great  Khan's  Horde.  From  the  6th 
of  December,  along  narrow  paths  and  over  a  poor  pasture- 
land,  they  hurried  on  through  cold  so  extreme  that  they 
turned  their  sheepskins  with  the  wool  inside  : 6  in  another 
week's  time  they  arrived  (13th  December)  at  a  gorge  cele- 
brated for  its  devils  ;  and  here  good  words  were  needed  to  put 
the  unseen  enemy  to  flight.  So  the  Friars  chanted  the  Creed 
of  Nicaea,  and  for  their  Tartar  guides  they  wrote  the  shorter 
Credo  and  the  Pater  Noster,  not  as  '  charms  to  be  carried 

1  Rubruquis,  p.  293.  I        4  Or    'Ala    tyube,'  mentioned  by 

2  '  Singing  joyfully,  Salve  regina.'       various  Chinese  geographers. 
;i  Perhaps  at  that  time  it  formed  5  The  Ebi  Nor. 

one  and  the  same  water  with  the  ;  6  Rockhill  reads  outside,  the  fashion 
now  separate  Sassyk-Kul.  worn  in  more  moderate  weather. 


354 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


Ch. 


on  the  head ' x  but  as  '  saving   words   to  be   borne  within 
the  heart.' 2 

After  passing  these  dangerous  mountains,  and  the  low 
land  once  inhabited  by  the  Naimans,  in  a  northerly2,  direction, 
the  travellers  crossed  a  final  range  and  descended  into 
the  flat  country  of  Mongolia  itself,  a  plain  vast  as  the  sea 
(26th  December).  On  the  next  day  they  arrived  at  the  Court 
or  Horde  of  the  Great  Khan,  where  they  were  wTetchedly 
housed  in  a  tiny  hut,  with  scarce  room  enough  for  their 
baggage  and  their  beds ;  their  guide  meanwhile  occupied 
a  large  dwelling,  and  regaled  himself  with  rice  wine,  which, 
to  the  Friar's  discontented  eye,  seemed  as  good  as  the 
best  wine  of  Auxerre,  '  saving  only  the  perfume.'  Eubruquis 
was  so  troubled  by  the  haughtiness  of  the  Mongols,  their 
contemptuous  treatment  of  himself  and  his  friends,  and 
their  obstinate  belief  in  the  submission  of  the  King  of 
France,  that  he  felt  he  would  gladly  give  his  life  to  the 
preaching  of  a  Crusade  against  these  arrogant  barbarians.4 

The  first  reception  of  the  envoys  took  place  on  the  28th  of 
December  ;  the  bare  feet 5  of  the  Friars  caused  great  astonish- 
ment ;  and  the  crowd  of  onlookers  gazed  at  the  strangers  as  at 
so  many  monsters,  asking  if  they  bad  no  use  for  their 
members,  that  they  exposed  them  to  the  frost  so  recklessly. 
A  Hungarian  captive  who  was  present  recognised  the  habit 
of  the  Order,  and   explained    matters  as  well  as  be  could  ; 


1  After  the  usual  Tartar  manner  ; 
cf.  Chang-chun  and  Hiouen-Thsang 
and  their  stories  of  aggressive  goblins 
(who  pulled  the  hair  of  passengers 
and  were  maddened  like  bulls  at  the 
sight  of  anything  red)  in  the  Thian 
Shan  and  Altai. 

2  Eubruquis,  pp.  293-295. 

3  Probably  north  -  east.  These 
mountains  were  perhaps  those  now 


called  the  Tarbagatai.  The  Naiman 
country  was  along  the  upper  basin 
of  the  Irtish  and  the  shores  of  Lake 
Zaisan,-from  about  Semipalatinsk  to 
the  present  Russo-Chinese  frontier. 

4  Rubruquis,  pp.  296-300. 

5  Rubruquis'  imprudence  was  not 
altogether  without  its  reward;  next 
morning  he  found  the  tips  of  his  toes 
were  frozen,  p.  303. 


V.] 


RUBRUQUIS    AT    M ANGUS    COURT 


355 


then  came  Bulgai,  the  Grand  Secretary, l  who  examined 
the  visitors  with  the  help  of  this  Hungarian,  and  dismissed 
them  to  their  lodgings.2 

Returning  from  Court,  Rubruquis  visited  an  Armenian 
church,  where  he  met  a  hermit,  lank  and  swarthy,  from  the 
land  of  Jerusalem,  who  had  come  to  promise  Mangu  the 
Empire  of  all  Christendom  if  he  would  only  embrace  the 
faith.  Envoys  of  '  Vastacius,'  the  Greek  Emperor  of 
Nicaea,  were  also  at  the  Horde,  as  well  as  a  Greek 
'  knight  '  and  many  other  ambassadors  from  Western 
►States.  All  of  these  bore  witness  to  the  genuine  character 
of  the  new  mission;  on  the  3rd  of  January  1254,  the  Friars 
were  admitted  to  the  presence  of  Mangu  ;  and  at  the  door 
of  the  Imperial  tent  the  Latin  visitors  sang  the  hymn  of 
the  Nativity — 

1  A  solis  ortus  cardine 

Et  usque  terrae  limitem 

Christum  canamus  principem 

Natum  Maria  virgine.' 

The  felt  hanging  before  the  entrance  was  lifted  up  for 
the  Khan  to  hear  the  better;  but,  none  the  less,  the  visitors, 
when  they  had  clone  their  song  of  praise,  were  searched  for 
concealed  weapons  before  they  were  permitted  to  enter  the 
Court-room.  This  was  all  hung  with  cloth  of  gold,  and 
had  a  great  tire  of  wood  and  refuse,  briars  and  saxaul  roots 
burning  in  a  grate  in  the  centre  of  the  dwelling.  Mangu 
was  seated  on  a  couch,  and  appeared  to  be  '  a  little  man,  of 
moderate  height,'  aged  about  iive-aud-forty  years,  dressed  in 
a    skin   spotted   and    glossy   like    a    seal.3      Among    various 


1  A  Nestorian  who,  through  his 
acquaintance  with  a  Latin  prisoner, 
the  goldsmith,  Master  William  of 
Paris,  had  made  some  progress  to- 
wards   orthodoxy,     and     had     even 


learnt  to  fast  on  Fridays.   Rubruquis, 
p.  301. 

2  Rubruquis,  pp.  300-301. 

3  This     '  sea-cow '    skin    probably 
came  from  Lake  Baikal. 


o  0  b 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


drinks  Eubruquis  chose  a  cervisia,  or  ale  of  rice,  clear  and 
flavoured  like  white  wine ;  but  while  he  sipped  a  little  '  out 
of  respect,'  his  interpreter  was  drinking  deeply,  and  it  was 
not  long  before  the  Friar  had  to  dispense  with  his  services 
'  such  as  they  were.' 1  His  unfortunate  proximity  to  the  Court 
butlers  may  have  been  the  cause  of  this  misfortune,  but  as  he 
was  always  tipsy  on  critical  occasions,  and  at  the  best  had  a 
feeble  grasp  of  Western  tongues,  it  did  not  much  matter. 
Mangu  himself  was  very  incoherent,  and  the  royal  interpreter 
was  only  too  proud  to  be  like  his  master.  So  for  a  time  the 
visitors  could  understand  little  or  nothing,  until  at  last  the 
Khan  roused  their  attention  with  a  series  of  plain  questions 
about  the  kingdom  of  France — its  sheep  and  cattle  and  horses, 
and  the  possibilities  of  conquering  the  whole.  Eubruquis  had 
scarce  control  sufficient  to  conceal  his  indignation,  but  he 
returned  an  evasive  answer,  and  gained  the  Khan's  permis- 
sion to  stay  two  months  at  the  Eoyal  Horde.  More  than 
this,  he  was  offered  permission  to  visit  Karakorum.2 

At  the  Court  Eubruquis  met  with  quite  a  little  colony 
of  Europeans.  Besides  the  embassies  which  had  come  to 
bespeak  the  favour  of  Mangu,  there  were  various  captives, 
like  the  woman  Paquette3  of  Metz,  who  had  been  made 
prisoner  in  Hungary,  and  was  married  to  a  Eussian  tent- 
builder;4  or  the  goldsmith,  William  Buchier  of  Paris,5  who 


1  Rubruquis,  pp.  301-306.  The 
noble  who  had  guided  them  from 
Batu's  camp,  on  his  arrival  at 
Mangu's  horde  ceased  to  take  further 
interest  in  the  strangers,  and  devoted 
himself  to  his  liquor. 

2  Rubruquis,  pp.  306-309. 

3  Among  other  Europeans  at  the 
Tartar  Court  Rubruquis  mentions  in 
another  connection,  nearer  the  end 
of  his  work,  (1)  a  Teuton  girl  slave, 
who  had  been  thrown  into  a  trance, 


lasting  three  days,  by  the  Mongol 
diviners  ;  (2)  a  Hungarian  who  by 
stealth  had  once  been  present  at  a 
devil-evocation  of  these  same  diviners. 

4  Houses  (domos)  is  the  word, 
but  the  ordinary  house  in  these  parts 
was,  of  course,  the  Central  Asian  tent 
or  yurt.  Elsewhere  Rubruquis  tells 
us  that  the  houses  in  Karakorum 
of  more  solid  construction  were  made 
by  the  Chinese. 

5  Master  William  had  been  taken 


v.] 


UUBRUQUIS    AT    MANGDS    COURT 


357 


worked  for  the  Tartars  in  Karakorinn  itself.  These 
captives  had  suffered  unheard-of  misery  on  the  journey, 
but  they  were  now  in  better  case,  and  made  a  good  deal 
of  money  at  times.  Thus  Mangu  had  just  given  William 
the  Goldsmith  3000  marks  and  fifty  workmen  for  a  certain 
contract,  and  to  finish  this  he  was  bound  to  work  his  utmost. 
He  could  not  therefore  spare  Friar  William  the  services  of 
his  son  as  an  interpreter,  though  he  would  have  been  a 
good  substitute  for  the  tipsy  knave  whom  Eubruquis  had 
been  employing.1 

At  this  Tartar  Court  the  Friar  also  met  a  very  clever 
charlatan,  a  certain  clerk  from  Acre,  who  called  himself 
Raymond,  but  whose  real  name  was  Theodoulos.2  This  man 
had  started  from  Cyprus  with  Friar  Andrew  of  Longumeau, 
and  journeyed  with  him  as  far  as  Persia;  thence  he  had 
proceeded  to  the  Court  of  Mangu  with  stories  of  one  Otho, 
a  bishop,  who  had  received  from  Heaven  letters  in  golden 
characters,  announcing  the  future  triumph  of  the  Mongols 
over  the  whole  world.  With  such  flatteries  Theodoulos 
persuaded  the  Great  Khan  that  he  would  be  a  useful  agent 
of  Tartar  ambition  ;  he  was  entrusted  with  the  Imperial 
passport  of  the  Golden  Tablet,3  and  sent  back  to  the  West 


prisoner  at  Belgrade,  in  Hungary, 
where  there  was  also  a  Norman 
Bishop  from  Belleville  near  Rouen  ; 
a  nephew  of  the  Bishop  was  also 
captured,  whom  Rubruquis  saw 
at  Karakorum.  William  was  first 
in  the  service  of  Mangu's  mother  ; 
then  in  that  of  the  Great  Khan's 
Brother,  Arabuccha  ;  finally  in  that 
of  Mangu  himself.  The  Grand 
Khan  had  given  him  1000  marks  for 
his  works  at  Karakorum.  Arabuc- 
cha had  shown  leanings  towards 
Christianity  ;  among  other  things  he 
had  restrained  the  railings  of  certain 


Saracens,  because  '  we  know  Messias 
is  God.'  At  that  moment,  in  con- 
firmation of  his  words,  a  terrible  wind 
arose,  and  devils  were  seen  to  rush 
along  with  it. 

1  Rubruquis,  pp.  309-310. 

2  He  suggests  also,  though  he  does 
not  explicitly  assert,  the  fraudulent 
character  of  another  envoy,  a  Damas- 
cene Christian,  who  professed  to 
bring  offers  of  tribute  and  alliance 
from  the  Sultan  '  of  Mont  Real  and 
Crae.' 

3  This  was  put  in  the  keeping 
of  Theodoulos'    Mongol    companion. 


358  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

witli  presents  for  the  King  of  the  Franks.  In  his  company 
was  a  Mongol  spy,  charged  to  observe  and  report  upon  the 
roads,  towns,  men,  and  arms  of  Christian  countries.  As  far 
as  Nicaea  Theodoulos  made  his  way  unchallenged,  but  he  was 
unable  to  deceive  his  own  people.  The  Greeks  stopped  him, 
examined  him,  and  threw  him  into  prison  ;  the  Golden  Tablet 
was  returned  to  Mangu  ;  and  at  Erzerum,  'on  the  borders  of 
Turkey,'  Friar  William  passed  the  bearers  of  the  dishonoured 
token  on  their  way  to  Karakorum.1 

While  Eubruquis  was  at  the  Court  another  notable  im- 
postor, the  Armenian  monk  and  'prophet'  before-mentioned, 
whose  name  was  Sergius,  boasted  that  he  would  baptise 
Mangu  on  the  Feast  of  the  Epiphany  next  ensuing  (6th 
January,  1254).  But  as  a  fact,  the  Christian  priests,  the 
Saracen  Mollahs,  and  the  Buddhist  Bonzes  were  all  equally 
confident  of  their  ascendency  over  the  Khan,  were  all  per- 
mitted to  enrol  him  among  their  devotees,  and  were  all 
alike  victims  of  delusion.  For  he  believed  in  none  of  their 
creeds,  and  while  they  followed  his  Court  like  Hies  after 
honey,  he  only  used  them  as  a  politic  ruler,  ready  to  welcome 
any  means  of  quieting  subjects  of  other  nationalities  and 
faiths.  On  the  12th  of  January,  a  week  after  the  baptism, 
Friar  William  was  present  at  a  Nestorian  service2  which 
the  Great  Khan  attended  with  some  of  his  household  ;  at 
the    Imperial  request  the  Latin    strangers   also    chanted   a 


The  Tablet  was  '  like  a  plate  of  gold, 
half  a  cubit  long  and  a  palm  broad  ; 
he  who  carried  it  could  command 
what  he  pleased  without  delay.' 
Mangu's  presents  to  the  King  of 
France  were  a  strong  bow  which 
two  men  could  hardly  bend,  and  two 
'  sounding'  arrows,  with  silver  heads, 
full  of  holes,  that  whistled  in  the 
air  when  shot  (Rubruquis,  pp.  311, 
312)  ; — examples  of  a  famous  Turco- 


Tartar  weapon.  In  haughty  and 
obscure  terms  Mangu  offered  the 
French  King  peace  and  the  Western 
World,  while  the  Tartars  finished  the 
conquest  of  the  Saracens. 

1  Rubruquis,  pp.  310-313. 

2  On  the  other  hand,  on  the  Sth  of 
February,  there  was  a  Pagan  or 
Shamanist  divination  at  Court,  by 
the  blade-bones  of  sheep. 


v.] 


VISIT    TO    KARAKORUM 


359 


psalm;1  and  the  whole  ended  with  a  sort  of  orgie — the 
Khan's  ladies  drinking,  the  Nestorian  clerics  singing  and 
'  howling,'  the  Frank  visitors  partaking  of  the  food  which 
came  so  rarely  to  their  mouths,  and  looking  on  at  the  rest 
with  wearisome  disgust.2 

Some  time  after  his  arrival,  Rubruquis  found  that  the 
Court  was  about  to  visit  Karakorum,  and  obtained  per- 
mission to  accompany  its  progress.  On  this  journey  '  north- 
ward '  he  verified  the  truthfulness  of  Baldwin  of  Hainault,  who 
'  had  been  there,'  and  had  told  him,  in  Constantinople,  how  all 
the  rivers  of  this  tract  flowed  from  east  to  west,  and  how  the 
route  was  perpetually  on  the  ascent.  Still  further,  towards  the 
sun-rising,  lay  the  famous  Cathay,  at  a  distance  of  twenty  days,3 
and  on  one  side  of  the  road  was  the  home-land  of  Ghenghiz 
and  his  tribe,  to  the  east  and  south-east  of  Lake  Baikal,  ten 
days  from  Karakorum.  But  throughout  all  this  region  no 
city,  town,  or  village  was  to  be  met  with,  but  only  the  tents 
of  the  Xomade  Kirghiz,  and  the  hunters  and  trappers4  who 
chased  birds  and  beasts  over  the  frozen  snow  and  ice  on 
shoes  of  polished  bone.  Yet  nearer  to  the  Pole  lived  in 
abject  poverty  some  wretched  tribes,  who  bordered  on  the 
west  upon  the  Bashkirs  of  Great  Hungary  ;  and  north  of 
these  again  was  a  land  of  eternal  cold,  unknown  to 
men.6 

In  spite  of  all  enquiries,  the  Friar  could  discover  no 
certain  trace,  or  reliable  news,  of  the  monstrous  races  whom 
classic  authors  had  placed  in  these  regions,  except  only  the 


1  The  'prose,'  Veni,  Sancte  Spiritus 
In  rewardfortheircompliance  Mangu's 
queen  or  chief  lady  ottered  them  valu- 
able presents,  which  they  declined  for 
themselves,  but  allowed  their  drago- 
man to  accept.  One  of  these,  a  piece  of 
gold  and  silk  brocade,  he  sold  for  80 
bezants  in  Cyprus  ;  Rubruquis,  p.  316. 


2  Rubruquis,  pp.  313,  315,  etc. 

3  According  to  the  testimony  of 
certain  priests,  from  the  same  Cathay. 

4  Whom  Rubruquis,  p.  327,  calls 
Oengai,  perhaps  the  modern  Tun- 
guses. 

5  Rubruquis,  pp.  32(3,  327,  334, 
etc. 


360  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Cm. 

Chin-chin  or  Kangaroo-men,  who  lived,  and  leapt,  in  the  far 
Eastern  countries  beyond  Cathay.1 

On  the  29th  of  March,  while  Mangu  was  still  on  his  slow 
progress  towards  Karakorum,  through  a  mountainous 
country  swept  by  snowstorms  and  bitter  winds,  he  received 
news  of  the  completion  of  his  new  palace  in  that  settlement, 
and  at  once  hastened  his  pace.  Early  on  the  5th  of  April 
(Palm  Sunday)  he  and  his  train  were  in  sight  of  the  town, 
and  at  three  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  the  formal 
entry  took  place.  Eubruquis  and  his  friends  raised  their 
cross  and  banner,  and  passed  through  the  Saracen  quarter 
and  the  market  to  the  church,  where  the  ISTestorians  met  them 
in  procession.  After  service  the  Franks  dined  with  their 
countryman,  William  of  Paris,  and  his  wife,  a  '  daughter  of 
Lorraine,'  but  born  in  Hungary ;  one  Basil,2  the  son  of  an 
Englishman,  was  also  present.  Master  William  kept  the 
day  as  a  festival,  for  his  work  at  the  palace  was  the  admira- 
tion of  the  whole  Court,  and  it  was  to  see  this  that  Mangu 
had  come.  Within  the  high  boundary  wall  that  enclosed 
the  Imperial  dwelling  (like  a  monks'  priory  in  a  Christian 
country),  were  many  buildings,  like  barns  or  storehouses, 
wherein  the  food  supplies  and  treasures  of  the  Khan  re- 
posed ;  and  in  the  entrance  the  French  goldsmith  had  made  a 
silver  tree,  with  four  lions  of  silver  at  the  roots  of  the  same, 
and  pipes  or  conduits  from  the  foot  of  the  trunk  to  the  top 
of  the  branches,  round  which  gilded  serpents  were  twined, 
and  above  which,  at  the  summit  of  all,  stood  an  angel  with  a 
trumpet.  In  a  vault  beneath  the  tree  a  man  could  lie  con- 
cealed, and  by  means  of  the  pipes  that  led  up  to  the  angel 
he  could  blow  the  trumpet;  this  was  a  signal  for  the  lions 
and  serpents  to  pour  out  wine  and  kumiss,  honey-mead  and 

1  Rubruqiiis,  pp.  327-328. 

2  Also  'born  in  Hungary. ' 


V.l  VISIT    TO    KARAKORUM  301 

rice-ale,  each  drink  being  duly  received  in  a  separate  bowl  of 
silver.1 

In  its  structure  the  palace  within  the  enclosure  was  not 
unlike  a  church;  it  had  a  nave  and  two  aisles  separated  by 
columns  and  three  gates  on  the  south  side.  Before  the 
central  gate  stood  the  tree,  and  within,  towards  the  north, 
but  looking  out  to  the  sacred  quarter  and  the  silver  tree, 
through  the  '  portal  of  honour.'  stood  the  throne  of  the 
Great  Khan,  'like  a  divinity,'  on  a  dais  with  two  steps. 
The  length  of  the  palace  was  from  north  to  south,  not  from 
east  to  west ;  on  the  right  hand,  towards  the  sun-setting, 
was  the  place  of  the  male,  on  the  left  hand,  towards  the  sun- 
rising,  of  the  female,  courtiers.2 

But  although  Karakorum  was  the  capital,  if  any  capital 
there  were,  of  the  greatest  Empire  in  the  world,  it  was  not  as 
large  as  St.  Denys,  near  Paris,  a  mere  bourgade  among  French 
towns  ;  and  this  boasted  palace  was  but  a  tenth  of  the  size  of 
the  great  monastery  at  St.  Denys.  Besides  the  Saracen 
quarter  to  the  westward,  already  mentioned,  in  which  were 
the  markets,  and  near  which  stood  the  palace,  there  was 
also  an  artisan  quarter  to  the  east,  chiefly  inhabited  by  men 
of  Cathay.  Beyond  the  town  itself  were  the  palaces  of  the 
Court  Secretaries ;  other  buildings  of  note  were  the  twelve 
idol  temples,  the  two  '  mahummeries  '  or  mosques,  and  the 
Christian  church  ;  the  whole  was  surrounded  by  a  mud  wall 
pierced  by  four  gates.  Each  of  these  ports  had  a  market ; — 
for  millet  and  other  grain  at  the  east ;  for  sheep  and  goats 
at  the  west ;  for  oxen  and  waggons  at  the  south  ;  and  for 
horses  at  the  north.3 

Ptubruquis'   ill-compacted  and    gossiping    narrative    gives 
many  stories  of  his  disputes  with,  and  verbal  triumphs  over, 

Rubruquis,  pp.  334-336,  337.  "  Rubruquis,  p.  33G. 

3  Rubruquis,  pp.  345-346. 


362 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


the  Nestorian  and  Armenian  Theologians,  and  especially  the 
monk,  to  whose  hospitality  he  had  been  assigned,  and  whose 
Manichaeism1  was  alone  enough  to  alienate  his  guest.  These 
native  Christians,  according  to  Friar  William,  were  as  greedy 
as  the  lowest  Mongols  ;  not  satisfied  with  getting  drunk  every 
day  at  Court,  they  thrust  themselves  upon  the  unlucky 
Western  visitors  whenever  a  present  of  food  or  wine  had  come 
from  the  Khan's  table;  and  thus  the  writer  learnt  from  ex- 
perience '  what  a  martyrdom  was  the  charity  of  the  poor,' 
When  in  disfavour  with  Manga,  these  braggart  '  Christians,' 
showing  themselves  in  their  true  light,  thought  nothing  of  an 
offer  to  do  a  vital  injury  to  the  Christians  of  Europe,  and  to 
go  on  missions  as  Tartar  spies  among  the  nations  of  the  West, 
as  far  as  to  St.  James  of  Compostella.  Their  '  miracles 
of  healing '  were  only  done  by  the  aid  of  violent  purges 
or  emetics,  which  sometimes  cured  and  sometimes  killed, 
and  to  obtain  a  generous  testament  from  the  dying,  they 
were  known  at  times  to  kick  and  thrash  them  into  obedience. 
Even  theft  did  not  come  amiss  to  some  of  them ;  a  crucifix 
which  William  of  Paris  had  made  for  Bulgai,  the  Grand 
Secretary,    was     stolen    by    these    missionaries.2      Yet    in 


1  '  Did  not  the  devil,'  he  exclaimed 
once  in  argument,  '  bring  earth  on 
the  first  day  from  the  four  parts  of 
the  world,  and  did  he  not  knead  it 
into  clay  and  make  the  human  body 
thereof,  and  did  not  God  breathe  a 
soul  into  the  same  ? ' 

2  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Nes- 
torians,  whatever  their  deficiencies, 
were  the  only  Christians  who  made 
any  impression  on  the  Mongols,  and 
procured  a  comparatively  favourable 
treatment  for  the  Christian  subjects 
of  the  Khan.  Thus  Hulagu,  whose 
wife  was  a  Nestorian,  usually  spared 
the  lives  of  those  who   belonged  to 


this  faith,  while  his  slaughter  of 
Moslems  was  almost  as  terrible  as 
the  massacres  of  Ghenghiz.  King 
Hayton  the  Elder,  of  Little  Armenia, 
has  been  wrongly  counted  as  a 
Nestorian,  but  he  seems  to  have  been 
in  close  relations  with  the  Nestorians 
and  with  their  help  influenced  the 
Tartars  to  show  greater  favour  to- 
wards subject  Christians :  still  more 
powerful  was  the  influence  of  a 
Nestorian  doctor,  Simeon,  who,  as 
early  as  1241,  appears  as  a  prominent 
person  at  the  Mongol  Court.  Of. 
Heyd,  Commerce  du  Levant,  ii. 
67. 


v-l  RUBRUQUIS    ON    THE    NESTORIANS  363 

spite  of  their  heresies  and  their  wickedness,  it  was  some 
comfort  to  rind  that  they  accepted  Rome  as  the  Head 
of  all  the  churches  ;  that,  if  the  way  were  open,  they 
would  gladly  take  their  spiritual  rulers  from  the  Pope; 
and  that  it  was  only  need  which  made  them  obey  the 
Patriarch  or  Catholic  at  Bagdad,  and  receive  from  him 
their  priests,  their  relics,  their  sacred  oil,  and  their  altar- 
tables.1 

Like  John  de  Piano,  though  perhaps  not  so  poignantly, 
Friar  William  and  his  friends  suffered  from  hunger,  cold, 
the  want  of  a  good  lodging,  and  every  misery  of  barbarous 
surroundings,  during  the  chief  part  of  their  stay  at  Mangu's 
Court.  Occasionally  the  Khan  sent  them  food  and  presents 
of  clothing ;  and  at  the  audiences  be  granted  them  they 
might  have  taken  some  handsome  and  costly  gifts  of  silk, 
flax-cloth,  and  brocade,  if  their  character  had  permitted  it. 
But,  as  a  whole,  their  privations  were  great  ;  a  poor  thin 
sheep  had  to  serve  them  for  a  week  ;  on  a  day  of  plenty 
they  were  forced  to  share  with  a  swarm  of  self-invited 
guests;  and  the  season  of  Lent — when  even  fish  was 
tabooed,  and  when  the  winds  and  snowstorms  of  Mongolia 
were  most  piercing — was  only  less  terrible  than  the  journey 
from  the  Volga  in  midwinter.2 

It  was,  therefore,  not  unwelcome  to  find,  as  the  month 
of  May  drew  on,  that  the  Mongol  Court  was  preparing 
to  dismiss  the  French  mission,  and  to  send  by  their  hands 
Mangu's  answer  to  King  Louis.  First  of  all,  the  Grand 
Secretary3  examined  the  visitors  as  to  their  objects  and 
the  objects  of  their  Sovereign  :  demanded  whether  any  other 
embassies  had  been  sent  to  the  Khan  by  the  King  of  France  ; 
and  enquired   whether  they  would  escort  a  Mongol  legation 

1  Rubruquis,  pp.  314-315,  324-328,    I       2  Rubruquis,  pp.  314,  315. 
331-332,  334,  342-345,  349,  354.  I       3  Bulgai. 


364  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

back  to  Europe.  In  answer,  they  repeated  what  they  had 
said  to  Batu,  and  had  already  stated  on  their  arrival  at  the 
Imperial  Horde  ;  referred  to  the  visit  of  David  and  Friar 
Andrew ;  and  professed  their  helplessness  to  undertake 
so  perilous  and  political  a  charge  as  was  suggested.  What- 
ever their  real  feelings,  they  thought  it  well  to  declare  that 
their  wish  was  still  to  remain  at  Mangu's  Horde,  and  to 
pray  for  him,  his  household,  and  his  people.  The  formal 
decision  was  postponed  for  a  few  days ;  and  meanwhile,  the 
Khan  was  entertained  by  a  series  of  theological  disputes,1  in 
which  Catholics  and  Nestorians,  Armenians  and  Manichaeans, 
Moslems  and  Idolaters,  carried  on  a  bloodless  warfare, 
sometimes  one  side  '  writing  down'  the  words  of  another  as 
'  false '  or  '  impossible,'  sometimes  bursting  into  laughter  at 
the  outrageous  statements  of  their  adversaries,  the  whole 
concluding  in  the  usual  manner  with  deep  potations  and 
loud  singing.2 

At  last,  on  the  31st  of  May,  Friar  William  was  summoned 
to  a  decisive  audience.  Before  he  entered  the  presence,  his 
new  interpreter,  the  son  of  Master  William,  warned  him 
that  all  was  settled  for  his  departure ;  and  so  he  found  it. 
Mangu  was  gracious,  although  Kubruquis  had  been  accused 
to  him  of  insulting  his  Majesty  with  the  name  of  idolater ; 
he  readily  accepted  the  Frank's  disclaimer  ;  and  stretching 
out  to  him  the  sceptre-staff  on  which  he  leaned,  bade  his 
guest  fear  nothing.  (If  I  had  been  fearful,  murmured  the 
Friar  to  himself,  I  should  not  have  come  here.)  Then, 
helped   by   a  not  infrequent   consultation   of    the   flagon   at 


1  Among  other  things,  Transmigia- 
tion  of  Being  was  discussed,  a  little 
after  the  fashion  of  Plato's  Meno. 
Master  Wiiliara  of  Paris,  at  another 
time,  told  Rubruquis  of  a  boy  from 


old,  who  was  capable  of  all  forms 
of  reasoning,  knew  how  to  read  and 
write,  and  claimed  three  separate  in- 
carnations ;  evidently  this  was  a 
'living  Buddha'  or  '  Bodhisattva.' 


Cathay,  apparently  about  twelve  years  2  Rubruquis,  pp.  355-359. 


v-l  KUBRUQUls'    PARTING    WITH    MANGTJ  3G5 

his  side,  the  Mongol  Emperor  began  to  confide  in  his 
visitors  as  he  had  never  done  before.  The  Mongols  believed  in 
one  God,  and  they  perceived  that  as  God  gave  the  hand 
divers  fingers,  so  He  bestowed  on  man  divers  ways  of  life 
and  of  belief.  For  to  the  Christians  He  entrusted  '  Scrip- 
tures that  were  not  kept,'  and  to  others  He  granted  other 
things.  No  one,  they  thought,  should  wrangle  with  another; 
no  one  should  pervert  justice  for  money.  At  this  glance  of 
sarcasm  Eubruquis  protested  his  own  pure  and  peaceful 
conduct,  and  the  Khan,  forestalling  an  exposition  of  the 
Catholic  Faith  which  his  visitors  were  eager  to  give  him, 
announced  his  decision  as  to  their  return.  They  must  go 
back  to  Europe ;  if  they  feared  to  conduct  his  ambassadors, 
would  they  venture  to  be  the  bearers  of  his  letters  or 
his  messages  ?  On  their  consent,  he  again  enquired  about 
the  route  they  wished  to  follow,  and,  finding  that  they 
hoped  for  'travelling  charges'  and  a  guard  as  far  as  Armenia 
the  Little,3  he  reminded  them  of  the  all-powerful  Viceroy 
in  the  West,  through  whose  camp  and  with  whose  consent 
they  must  journey.  'There  are  two  eyes  in  one  head,  but 
the  two  have  one  and  the  same  vision ;  from  Batu  you  have 
come,  by  way  of  Batu  shall  you  return.' 2 

Eubruquis,  though  not  without  joy  at  the  prospect  of 
revisiting  his  King  and  country,  was  anxious  to  retain  what 
influence  he  had  gained,  in  truth  or  fancy,  over  the  Khan  and 
the  Tartars  ;  and  before  leaving  the  Court  he  offered  himself 
as  a  priest  to  the  '  poor  slaves '  at  Bolat,  near  Lake  Sairam. 
This  colony  of  exiled  Teutons  he  had  not  been  allowed  to  visit 
as  an  envoy ;  perhaps  he  could  gain  access  as  a  chaplain  ;  in 
any  case,  had  he  the  Imperial  permission  to  return  to  the 


1  I.e.  Cilicia.  I    that,   as    the    sun  cast  its  rays  over 

2  Eubruquis,     pp.     359-361.      At       all  the  earth,  even  so  his  own  power 
their  first  audience  Man^u  declared       and  (hat  of  Batu  reached  everywhere. 


366 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


Mongol  Empire  ?  In  vague  and  general  terms  Mangu 
assented  ;  then,  with  a  parting  cup,  and  an  exhortation  (which 
must  have  sounded  like  irony)  to  comfort  themselves  with 
food  and  guard  their  health,  he  dismissed  the  Friars,  and  they 
saw  him  no  more.  To  the  last  they  hoped  to  hear  from  his 
lips  some  hint  of  his  inclination  to  the  True  Religion,  but  it 
would  have  needed  signs  and  wonders  like  those  of  Moses 
to  extort  such  a  confession  and  to  humble  the  pride  of  such 
a  monarch.1 

There  was  not,  indeed,  much  humility  about  the  letters 
which  Rubruquis  soon  after  received  as  the  result  of  his 
mission.  Like  Kuyuk's  earlier  epistle  to  the  Pope,  Mangu's 
words  breathed  a  haughty  and  fanatical  sense  of  over- 
mastering power  by  the  grace  of  God : — '  This,  by  the 
virtue  of  the  Eternal,  throughout  the  great  world  of  the 
Mongols,  is  the  message  of  Mangu  Khan  to  the  Lord  of 
the  French.  Wherever  ears  can  hear,  wherever  horses  can 
travel,  there  let  it  be  heard  and  known :  those  who  do  not 
believe,  but  resist  Our  Commandments,  shall  not  be  able  to 
see  with  their  eyes,  or  hold  with  their  hands,  or  walk  with 
their  feet.  The  Commandments  of  the  Eternal  are  what  we 
impart  to  you.  If  you  will  obey  us,  send  your  ambassadors, 
that  we  may  know  whether  you  wish  for  peace  or  war. 
But  if  you  say,  Our  Country  is  far,  our  mountains  are  strong, 
and  our  sea  is  wide,  then  you  shall  find  what  we  can  do. 
For  the  Eternal  makes  plain  what  is  difficult,  and  brings 
near  that  which  is  afar  off'.'  Such  was  the  substance, 
with  many  repetitions,  of  the  reply  which  the  One  lord  of 


1  Rubruquis,  pp.  361-362.  Many 
of  the  chief  ■women  at  Court  seem  to 
have  been  Christians  of  a  sort,  e.g. 
the  mothers  of  Mangu,  Hulagu,  and 
Kublai.  These  facts  sujjported  the 
idea    of   a  wider  Christianity  among 


Mongols  than  really  existed,  and 
fostered  hopes  of  alliance  between 
Christendom  and  the  Tartars,  as  well 
as  of  the  conversion  of  the  Great 
Khan. 


V] 


MANGU  S    LETTERS    TO    ST.    LOUIS 


367 


Earth,1  inspired  by  the  One  God  of  Heaven,  deigned  to  make 
to  a  King  whom  he  already  regarded  as  a  vassal  anxious  for 
his  favour.  As  to  the  previous  missions  to  and  from  the 
French  Court  in  the  Levant,  they  were  nothing  ;  David  was 
an  impostor,  and  Ogul  Gaimish  had  no  authority.  For  '  in 
affairs  of  war  and  peace  and  the  welfare  of  a  great  realm, 
what  could  this  woman,  viler  than  a  bitch,  know  or  do?'2 
At  a  concluding  festival  in  Karakorum — on  the  7th  of 
June  and  the  next  three  days — a  week  after  the  final 
audience,  Friar  William  saw  ever  fresh  tokens  of  the 
Mongol  power : — the  envoy  of  the  Caliph  of  Bagdad  carried 
in  a  litter  between  two  mules ;  the  ambassadors  of  an 
Indian  Sultan  who  brought  presents  of  hunting  leopards 
and  greyhounds ;  and  the  legates  of  the  Sultan  of  Turkey 
(Rum  or  Iconiuni).  These  Indians  followed  the  same  route 
as  Rubruquis,  on  his  homeward  way,  for  almost  three  weeks, 
going  steadily  west,  and  to  indicate  the  direction  of  their 
country  they  pointed  in  the  same  quarter,  a  good  example 
of  the  ignorance  and  carelessness  which  is  responsible  for  so 
many  of  the  local  misconceptions  of  this  Itinerary.  Mean- 
while, Brother  Bartholomew  of  Cremona  had  decided  to  stay 
behind  ;  for  his  part,  soul  and  body  could  not  endure  the  hard- 
ships of  the  journey  ;  and  Mangu  was  willing  to  keep  and 
maintain  him  at  the  Court.  William  of  Paris,  who,  for 
different  reasons,  could  not  leave  the  Horde,  was  entrusted 
with  a  fixed  sum3  to  spend  on  the  Friar's  needs;  an  equal 
sum  was  given  from  the  Khan's  treasury  for  the  expenses  of 
the  returning  Franks  ;  and  about  the  6th  of  July,  1254, 
Rubruquis  set  out  for  Batu  and  the  Volga.  With  tears 
he  parted  from  Bartholomew  and  from  his  good  friend  the 


1  According  to  the  Alongol  view, 
Gherlghiz  Khan,  Son  of  Heaven,  was 
the  one  and  only  temporal  lord  from 


whom  all  authority  was  derived. 

2  Rubruquis,  pp.  369-370-371. 

3  Five  '  iascot.' 


368  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

goldsmith  (once,  like  himself,  a  subject  of  the  King  of 
France),  who  now  sent  to  his  old  sovereign  '  endless 
salutations'  and  a  present  of  mysterious  value — a  girdle 
with  a  precious  stone,  such  as  the  Tartars  wore  against 
lightning.  After  refusing  all  other  gifts,1  Friar  William 
accepted  Mangu's  parting  offer  of  '  three  plain  gowns,'  lest 
it  should  seem  that  the  royal  bounty  was  treated  with  scorn  ; 
he  had  already  permitted  his  interpreter,  the  '  Alan  of  God,' 
to  profit  somewhat  by  the  liberality  of  the  Khan 2  and  his 
ladies ;  and  the  nasic  and  buckram,  the  furs  and  silks  and 
cotton  cloths,  which  were  carried  back  to  Cyprus,  sold  for 
a  good  sum.3 

In  seventy  days  the  mission  accomplished  the  distance 
between  Karakorum  and  the  camp  of  Batu,  apparently 
travelling  (at  least  on  part  of  the  road)  by  a  more  northern 
route  than  on  the  outward  way.  Almost  the  whole  journey 
was  over  desert  country ;  for  fifteen  days  their  path  lay 
by  a  stream  winding  through  mountains ;  but,  except  for  one 
tiny  hamlet,  and  a  number  of  graves,  they  never  saw  town, 
village,  or  building  during  the  whole  of  the  time ;  nor  did 
they  take  any  rest,  save  for  the  time  allotted  to  eating  and 
sleeping,  and  one  day,  when  a  forced  halt  occurred  through 
the  want  of  horses.  For  the  most  part,  they  came  through 
the  same  '  nations,'  but  not  through  the  same  districts,  as 
they  had  traversed  before.  Three  weeks  out  from  Karakorum 
they  heard  news  of  another  wayfarer,  whose  visit  had  been 
long  expected,  and  who  was  evidently  considered  by  the  Tartars 
to  be  far  more  important  than  the  ambassadors  of  King  Louis. 
This   was   Havton,  King  of  Little  Armenia  (the  mediaeval 


1  Except  some  pompion   fur-gowns 
in  the  depth  of  winter. 

2  Mangu   was   at   first,    Rubruquis 
thought,   offended  by  their  going  to 


diately  to  the  Imperial  Court ;  but 
the  Khan  evidently  liked  the  envoys 
more,  and  gave  them  better  treat- 
ment, than  Kuyuk  did  Carpini. 


Sartach  instead  of  proceeding  innue-    |       3  Rubruquis,  pp.  368-369,  372-374. 


V.]  RETURN  TO  THP>  VOLGA  369 

Christian  kingdom  in  Cilicia  and  the  Taurus)  ;  he  and  his 
house  had  thrown  themselves  cordially  into  the  Mongol 
alliance  ;  and  a  common  enmity  to  the  Saracens  kept  up  a 
good  understanding  and  a  constant  communication  between 
these  distant  and  ill-matched  friends,  between  giant  and 
dwarf.  Much  as  he  desired  to  meet  Hayton,  Eubruquis 
just  missed  the  royal  visitor,  who  reached  the  Imperial 
Horde  in  the  middle 1  of  September,  when  Friar  William 
must  have  been  nearly  half-way  on  his  journey  to  the 
Volga.2 

By  a  strange  coincidence  the  writer  reappeared  in  the 
Horde  of  Batu  on  the  same  day  of  the  same  month  as  he 
had  quitted  it  a  year  before.3  Here  he  found  Gosset  and  the 
others  in  safety,  but  miserable,  poor,  and  hopeless;  the 
Tartars  were  already  preparing  to  make  slaves  and  cattle- 
drivers  of  them  ;  and  but  for  the  arrival  and  help  of  King 
Hayton,  this  would  long  ago  have  been  their  fate.4 

Batu  did  not  exercise  the  right  which  Mangu  had  granted 
him,  of  revising,  abridging,  or  altering  the  Imperial  reply  to 
the  French  King ;  nor  did  he  object  to  the  southern  route 
by  Persia  and  Armenia ;  but  a  month  passed  before  a  suit- 
able guide  was  forthcoming.  At  last  an  Uigur  was  put  in 
charge  of  the  party,  and  they  started  for  the  South,  descend- 
ing the  banks  of  the  Etil  towards  Sarai ;  when  they  crossed 
the  great  river  near  its  mouth,  they  had  to  pass  three  main 
branches  (each  of  which  was  nearly  twice  as  large  as  the 
Nile  at  Damietta),  and  four  lesser  arms,  composing  a  delta  of 
seven  channels.     In  the  middle  of  this  waste  of  waters,  an 

1  The     thirteenth.       Hayton     left   |    Court  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of 

Barchin,  on  the  Syr  Daria. 
8  Rubruquis,  pp.  375-376. 

3  16  th      September      1253  —  16th 
September  \'2i>4. 

4  Rubruquis,  p.  377. 
A 


Mangu,  1st  November.  On  his  way  he 
had  visited  both  Sartach  and  Batu  ; 
and  on  his  return  he  turned  out  of  his 
road  to  meet  Sartach  again,  as  the 
latter   was  then  on   his    'ourney   to 


370  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

unwalled  town,  Summer-Keur  by  name,  had  resisted  the 
Tartars  for  eight  years  j1  Alans,  Saracens,  and  even  Germans, 
were  among  its  people  ;  and  it  seems  not  to  have  been  far 
from  Batu's  new  capital  or  camp  at  Sarai.  With  a  good 
fortune  that  must  have  surprised  the  least  despondent  of  his 
company,  Eubruquis  succeeded  in  recovering  most 2  of  the 
books  and  vestments  that  had  been  'kept  in  charge'  for  him 
so  long  ;  the  rest  were  left  '  to  please  Sartach,'  who  really 
cared  for  none  of  these  things  ;  and  on  the  1st  of  November 
the  legation  set  out  for  the  passage  of  the  Caucasus.3  By 
the  loth  of  December  they  had  reached  the  northern  slope 
of  the  mighty  mountain  range;  but  during  the  first  fortnight 
of  November  the  way  lay  through  a  region  absolutely  desert,4 
and  once  they  almost  died  of  thirst.  Both  the  Alan  and 
the  Lesghian  tribes  of  the  hill-country  held  out  stubbornly 
against  the  Mongols,  and  sometimes  even  raided  their  cattle 
in  the  plains  ;  to  pass  the  Iron  Gates  or  Defile  of  Derbent 
an  escort  of  twenty  men  was  furnished, — greatly  to  the 
delight  of  Paibruquis,  who  had  often  longed  to  see  the 
Tartars  under  arms.  This  escort,  however,  was  poorly 
appointed  ;  of  the  twenty  warriors  only  two  had  cuirasses,  the 
rest  were  equipped  with  nothing  better  than  bows  and  arrows, 
Persian  caps,  plates  of  iron,  and  jackets  of  leather,  awkward 
and  ill-suited  for  active  work  in  combat.5 

The  Iron  Gates,  made  by  Alexander  of  Macedon,  between 


1  How  it  had  defended  itself  when 
all  these  waters  were  frozen  in 
winter  Rubruquis  does  not  explain. 

2  He  gives  a  considerable  list, 
however,  of  articles  he  did  not  re- 
cover, e.g.  a  gold-fringed  altar-cloth, 
a  censer,  the  Psalter  of  the  French 

queen,    a    Bible   in    verse,    and    the   I    headed  by  one  of  Batu's  sons 
Arabic    MS.,  worth    thirty   bezants,    '       ■'  Rubruquis,  pp.  377-381 
alreadv  noticed, 


3  'Mountains  of  the  Alans.'  as 
Rubruquis  calls  them. 

4  Between  the  place  where  Rubru- 
quis met  Batu's  Horde  and  Sarai, 
fifteen  clays'  journey,  the  country 
was  equally  without  inhabitants, 
except   for    a    party    out    hawking, 


v.] 


RUBRUQUIS    PASSES    THE    CAUCASUS 


371 


the  Caucasus  Mountains  and  the  Caspian  Sea,  were  marked 
and  guarded  by  a  town  (the  city  of  Derbent),  more  than  a 
mile  long,  but  so  closely  pressed  between  the  hills  and  the 
shore,1  that  its  width  was  never  more  than  a  stone's  throw  ; 
it  was  strongly  walled,  with  parapets  and  towers,  but  with- 
out moats ;  the  only  possible  high-road  lay  through  the 
very  middle  of  the  city.  Two  days'  journey  beyond  Derbent, 
the  travellers  passed  a  Jewish  colony  at  Samaron,2  and  here 
the  route  left  the  Caspian  shore  and  struck  inland,  through 
a  wild,  hilly  country,  abounding  in  remains  of  Alexander's 
ramparts.  Within  certain  other  barriers  in  this  region 
Hebrew  exiles  were  said  to  be  imprisoned,  but  of  these  the 
writer  could  learn  nothing  with  any  certainty.  Still  push- 
ing on  to  the  'South,'3  through  Samag  or  Shamaka,  once  the 
capital  of  Shirvan,  the  travellers  now  descended  into  the 
great  plain  of  the  Kur  and  lower  Aras,  in  which  the  famous 
cities  of  Tirlis,  the  'head  of  Georgia,'  and  Ganges,  the  old 
'  metropolis  '  of  the  Khorazmian  conquerors,4  were  to  be  found. 
Friar  William,  for  his  part,  made  no  excursions  to 
celebrated  sites,  but  pushed  on  steadily  to  the  south-west 
'  towards  Africa ' ;  leaving  Persia  on  the  left  or  south  and 
Georgia  on  the  right  or  north  ;  and  following  the  valley  of 
the  Araxes,  from  the  bridge  5  that  spanned  it,  at  its  junction 
with  the  Kur,  to  the  chief  encampment  of  the  Mongol  army 
in  the  land  of  Hyrcania.  This  horde  lay  on  the  Upper  Aras, 
with  special  authority  over  the  conquered  Georgians,  Turks, 


1  Rubrucpiis  is  the  only  Western 
Christian  traveller  of  the  pre-Polo 
period  who  passes  through  the  Iron 
Gates  of  Derbent. 

2  Edrisi's  Semmur  ;  cf.  Benjamin 
of  Tudela  on  the  Hebrews  trans- 
planted by  Shalmaneser  Asher,  ii. 
]  58-162;  also  Carpini,  748,  on  the 
'Jewish-  Brutaehi. 


3  '  South-west '  properly. 

4  Of  1225  and  following  years  ; 
Rubrucpiis,  pp.  381-383.  Ganges, 
Gansh  or  Genje,  is  the  present 
Elizabetjiol. 

5  A  pontoon,  held  together  by 
great  iron  chains.  Here  Rubrucpiis 
quotes  Virgil,  dZneid,  viii.  728  : — 
'  pontem  dedignatur  Araxes,' 


372  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

and  Persians,  but  subordinate  to  the  Tartar  Prince  1  govern- 
ing at  Tabriz  ;  their  chief,  Bachu  Noian,  entertained  his 
visitors,  not  with  Kumiss,  as  the  Friar  had  hoped,  but  with 
wine,  and  sent  them  on  to  Naxua  or  Nakhitchivan,  at  the  foot 
of  Ararat.  Here  Rubruquis  kept  the  Festivals  of  Christmas 
and  the  Epiphany  in  an  almost  deserted  city  ;  where  two 
churches  alone  stood  out  of  eighty  ;  where  first  the  Saracens, 
and  then  the  Tartars,  had  worked  their  will  on  the  luckless 
Armenians  ;  but  where  the  first  resting-place  of  Noah  was 
still  proudly  shown.  Close  by  was  the  Sacred  Mountain 
of  the  Ark,  unscalable  by  mortal  foot  ;  for  though  in  itself 
it  did  not  appear  too  high  for  an  ascent,  a  divine  jealousy 
forbade  the  human  race  to  explore  the  '  Mother  of  the 
World.' 2 

In  this  ruined  town  of  Naxua,  one  Friar  Bernard,  a 
Dominican  of  Catalonia,  was  then  staying,  whose  adventures 
had  been  in  singular  contrast  to  the  success  of  Pubruquis. 
First  he  had  been  to  Georgia  with  a  Piim1  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  who  had  landed  possessions  in  that  country; 
then  he  had  journeyed  in  the  company  of  a  Hungarian 
Friar  to  the  camp  of  Argun  at  Tabriz  ;  but  permission  ;to  go 
to  Sartach '  was  refused  ;  and  he  was  kept  in  the  Persian 
city,  miserably  inactive  and  solitary,  his  colleague  having 
been  sent  back  to  Tifiis  and  the  West,  and  his  only  com- 
panion being  a  German  lay  brother,  whose  language  he 
could  not  understand.3 

Friar  William  was  detained  by  heavy  snow  at  Naxua 
till  the  13th  of  January ;  thence  he  travelled  through  the 
country  of  Sahensa,  Prince  of  Ani,  a  most  unwilling  vassal 
of   the    Mongol,   who   professed   allegiance   to    the    Poman 


1  The  famous  Argun,  before  this 
time ;  now  superseded  by  one  of 
Mangu's  brothers.  Kars  was  at  this 
time  the  chief  station  of  the  Mongol 


forces  in  this  region. 

2  Rubruquis,  pp.  384-387. 

3  Rubruquis,  p.  387. 


V.]  RTJBEUQUIS    PASSES    THEOUGH    ARMENIA  373 

Church,  and  longed  for  the  aid  of  the  King  of  France. 
His  capital  was  a  strong  fortress,  one  of  the  most  ancient 
cities  of  Armenia,  famous  for  its  '  thousand  and  one  '  (or 
countless)  churches,  but  now  controlled  and  polluted  by  the 
presence  of  a  Mongol  bailiff;  and  here  Friar  William 
encountered  five  Dominicans,  four  of  whom  had  come  from 
France  direct,  while  the  fifth  had  joined  them  in  Syria. 
They  carried  letters  from  the  Pope  to  Sartach,  Buri,  and 
Mangu  ;  but  their  position  was  simply  that  of  mission- 
aries ;  and  their  only  request  of  the  Mongol  lords  was 
permission  to  stay  and  preach.  Eubruquis'  advice  was  sound, 
but  hardly  inspiriting :  with  the  Papal  letters  they  would 
doubtless  be  able  to  enter  the  Tartar  realms,  but  they  must 
take  a  good  supply  of  patience  and  plenty  of  sound  reasons 
for  their  coming  ;  mere  preachers  would  receive  but  scant 
courtesy  among  the  Nomades  ;  and,  without  an  interpreter, 
they  would  find  their  lot  a  hard  one.  After  this  warning 
they  started  for  Tifiis,  where  some  other  Friars  of  their 
Order  were  then  stationed,  and  the  writer  heard  no  more 
of  their  mission.1 

On  the  15th  of  February,  1255,  fifteen  days'  journey  from 
Nakhitchivan,  Eubruquis  entered  'Turkey'  or  the  Sultanate 
of  Iconium,  crossing  the  head  waters  of  the  Araxes,  and 
passing  through  Marsengen,  between  Kars  and  Erzerum.2 
Is  ear  here  he  struck  the  upper  course  of  the  Western 
Euphrates,  and  down  this  stream  he  journeyed  for  a  week 
to  Camath  or  Kemakh,  where  the  river  turned  'southward'3 
towards  Aleppo,  and  where  the  traveller  passed  into  the 
ancient  Cappadocia:  thence  over  high  snow-clad  mountains 


1  Eubruquis,  pp.  3SS-390. 

2  Though  Piulnuquis  mentions 
Aarserum(-on)  or  Erzerum,  '  a  goodly 
city,'  he  does  not  say  that  he  visited 
it.  anv  more  than  Arsengan  orErzin- 


ghian  ;    both,  however,  are  probable 
stations  of  his  loute. 

3  From  Kemakh  the  Euphrates 
continues  a  mainly  westward  course 
for  some  distance. 


374  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

and  through  Sivas  or  Sebaste,1 — the  Cappadocian  Caesarea, — 
and  Iconiurn,  to  Curta  or  Coiycus,  on  the  coast  of  Cilicia  or 
Armenia  the  Little,  the  practical  end  of  the  journey.  In 
this  last  stage  the  writer  saw  the  site  of  the  Mongol  victory 
over  the  Turkish  Sultan,  where  terrible  earthquakes  had 
changed  the  face  of  the  country,  and  the  earth  had  opened 
its  mouth  to  drink  in  the  blood  of  Saracens.  In  Erzinghian 
alone  these  convulsions  had  destroyed  ten  thousand  people  of 
name  and  standing,  to  say  nothing  of  the  nameless  poor. 
All  through  this  land  was  evidence  of  the  fulfilment  of  Isaiah's 
words,  'Every  valley  shall  be  exalted,  and  every  mountain 
shall  be  brought  low.' 2 

At  Iconiurn  Eubruquis  was  happily  freed  from  his  dis- 
honest and  troublesome  Uigur  guide,  who,  as  he  could  get 
no  pay  from  his  convoy,  used  his  commission  and  the  awful 
name  of  Batu  to  extort  money  in  every  town.  For  here,  at 
the  capital  of  the  Seljuk  Sultanate,  were  several  Christian 
merchants,  and  especially  a  Genoese,  Nicholas  of  Santo  Siro,3 
formerly  settled  at  Acre,  who,  with  his  partner,  the  Venetian 
Boniface  of  Molendino,  had  completely  monopolised  the 
alum  trade  of  Turkey,  and  carried  on  so  flourishing  and 
healthy  a  business,  that  what  in  former  days  fetched  fifteen 
bezants  was  now  sold  for  fifty.  It  was  with  the  aid  of  this 
Nicholas  that  Friar  William  arrived  at  last  on  the  Mediter- 
ranean (5th  May,  1255).4 

After  a  short  stay  at  '  Carta,'  Eubruquis  heard  that 
messengers  had  come  from  King  Hayton  to  the  Eegent 
of  the  Kingdom  ;  and  these  messengers  reported  that  the 
Kinp:  was  now  returning  from  the  Court  of  Mangu,  that 
the   Great   Khan    had   reduced    the   tribute,    and    that   in 


1  In  Lesser  Armenia,  says  Eubru- 
quis, strangely  ;  Caesarea  he  reached 
on  4th  April ;  Iconiurn  on  19th  April. 

2  Rubruquis,  pp.  390-391. 


3  Cf.  what  Carpini,  772,  says  of 
the  Italian  Merchants  at  Kiev,  p.  317 
of  this  vol. 

4  Rubruquis,  pp.  391-392. 


V.]  END    OF    RUB-RUQUIS'    JOURNEY  375 

future  nu  mure  Mongol  embassies,  so  oppressive  and  ex- 
tortionate,1 were  to  enter  the  friendly  land  of  Little  Armenia. 
The  Friar  now  likewise  hastened  to  the  Court  at  Sis,  told 
what  he  knew  of  Hayton's  movements  in  Tartary,  and  ob- 
tained leave  to  pass  over  to  Cyprus.  Here  apparently  he 
trusted  in  his  good  fortune  to  find  an  easy  journey  to  his 
Sovereign.  But  the  Provincial  of  his  Order  would  not  permit 
him  to  quit  the  Levant;  he  dragged  the  illustrious 
traveller  to  Antioch  and  Tripoli,  finally  ordering  him  to 
stay  at  Acre,  and  hindering  the  delivery  of  his  Record 
to  Louis.  Iiubruquis  therefore  concludes  by  asking  for 
deliverance  from  this  petty  tyranny,  by  a  few  more  words 
about  the  recent  history  and  political  divisions  of  Asia 
Minor,  and  by  some  suggestions  for  a  fresh  Crusade  along  the 
overland  route  through  Hungary.2 

Carpini  and  Eubruquis  are  the  foremost  Western  travellers 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  before  the  time  of  Marco  Polo,  and 
of  late  years  something  like  a  controversy  has  developed 
itself  over  their  respective  merits;  it  may  be  regretted 
that  preference  for  the  one  should  so  constantly  insist 
on  depreciation  of  the  other  ;  yet"  this  controversy  has  had 
the  advantage  of  bringing  out  more  clearly  the  many  details 
in  which  both  these  Friars  contributed  to  the  knowledge  of 
Christian  Europe,  the  range  and  acuteness  of  their  observation, 
and  the  epoch-making  character  of  their  journeys.  And  first 
of  all,  as  to  the  later  writer.  Rubruquis'  narrative  has  been, 
deservedly  praised  of  recent  years  ;  it  is  certainly  one  of  the 
best  records  of  travel  in  the  Middle  Ages  ;  and  the  journey 
it  chronicles  is  one  of  the  most  considerable  ever  performed 


1  The  Mongol  embassy  to  Iconium 
in  two  years  cost  for  maintenance, 
exclusive  of  bread   and   wine,  about 


£:500,000  (Vincent  of  Beauvais  xxx., 
ch.  28). 

2  Rubvuquis,  pp.  392-394. 


376  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

by  a  Latin  Christian  before  the  age  of  the  great  discoveries. 
It  is  perfectly  true  that  Friar  William  was  an  acute  and 
intelligent  observer,  and  that  he  collected  a  mass  of  valuable 
details  on  the  geography,  race-history,  and  manners,  as  well 
as  on  the  religions  and  languages,  of  Asia.  It  is  also  evident 
that  he  was  conscientious  and  thorough  in  preparing  for 
this  distant  and  arduous  journey,  and  that  his  knowledge  of 
Arabic  x  was  of  great  service.  This  alone  would  show  that 
he  had  something  of  the  gift  of  tongues ;  but  a  more 
surprising  proof  of  his  accomplishments  may  be  found  in  his 
acquaintance  with  the  Mongol  speech,  of  which  he  learnt 
sufficient  to  check  and  put  to  shame  his  poor  and  tipsy 
dragoman.  But  it  would  be  unfair  to  treat  him  as  the 
sole  worthy  predecessor  of  Marco  Polo ;  to  minimise  the 
credit  belonging  to  Carpini  in  order  to  give  more  to  his 
successor 2 ;  and  to  put  down  to  the  French  envoy  the 
discovery  of  things  which  others  had  already  noticed.  Thus 
in  geography  it  has  been  indiscriminately  claimed  for  him 
that  he  was  the  first  to  indicate  the  true  sources  and  course 
of  the  Don  and  Volga,  the  inland  character  of  the  Caspian, 
the  identity  of  Cathay  with  the  country  of  the  classical 
Seres,  the  true  position  of  the  Balkhash  Lake,  and  the 
character  of  that  Central  Asian  depression,  of  which  it 
occupies  the  eastern  extremity ;  he  is  also  credited  with 
the  first  description  of  Karakorum,  the  first  mention 
of  Korea,  and  the  first  notice  of  some  of  the  North  Asiatic 
aborigines.3  In  natural  history  it  may  be  more  readily 
granted  that  he  is  the  first  Western  writer  to  mention 
the  wild  ass,  or  kulan,  of  the  Central  Asiatic  deserts,  and 
the  great  sheep  of  the  Pamirs,  now  famous  as  the  argali 


1  Like  Carpinf  s  acquaintance  with 
Slavonic. 

2  Cf.  Heyd's  opinion,  Commerce  du 
Levant,  ii.,  65,  on  Carpini  ('Jean  da 


Piano  de  Carpine'),  and  his  superiority 
to  Rubruquis  as  an  observer. 
3  Such  as  the  Tungus  or  Oengai. 


V.]  COMPARISON    OF    CAR  PINT    AND    RTJBRUQUIS        37? 

or  ovis  poll ;  as,  in  anthropology  and  philology,  he  deserves 
the  highest  credit  for  his  account  of  the  Crimean  Goths, 
his  identification  of  the  Romans  with  the  Kipchak  and 
Kanglae,1  or  Kangitae,  his  careful  distinction  between  the 
Tartars  and  the  Mongols  proper,  and  his  recognition  of  the 
affinity  of  various  dialects  —  those  of  Bashkirs2  and 
Hungarians  on  one  side,  of  Bussians,  Poles,  Bohemians,  and 
Vandals  on  another,  and  of  Turks,  Uigurs,  and  Komans 
on  a  third.  Excellent,  also,  is  his  suggestion  of  the  Volga 
origin  of  the  Danube  Bulgarians,  and  his  account3  of  the 
Chinese,  Tangut,  Uigur,  and  Tibetan  writings ;  and  not 
less  excellent  is  his  description  of  the  Christian  communities 
within  the  Mongol  Empire,  their  rituals  and  tenets.  We  owe, 
moreover,  to  him  the  earliest  Western  account  of  the  Lama 
system  of  Northern  Buddhism  in  all  its  details,  and  of  the 
peculiar  dress  and  ritual  of  the  Uigurs. 

But  in  this  list  there  are  several  points  in  which  the 
primary  credit  is  certainly  not  due  to  Bubruquis,  and  several 
others  where  such  credit  may  be  easily  overstated.  As  to 
the  languages  and  dialects  of  the  Mongols  and  their  subjects, 
Bubruquis,  no  doubt,  shows  an  advance  on  his  predecessor, 
and  it  is  beyond  dispute  that  he  mentions  more  of  the 
animals  of  these  wild  regions ;  but,  on  the  whole,  there  is 
something  to  be  said  for  the  old  editors  who  treated  Carpini 
as  the  primary  figure  in  the  group  of  missionary  and  diplo- 
matic travellers  who  preceded  Marco  Polo.  For  Carpini's 
narrative  is  a  masterpiece  of  clear  and  accurate  description, 
without  needless  digression ;  and  if  its  narrative  of  the 
author's  actual  journey  is  briefer  and  slighter  than  that 
of  Bubruquis,  its  account  of  the  Tartar  manners,  customs, 
and  history   is    not  only    beyond    comparison   superior,   but 

1  Carpini,   however,  clearly  identi-   ]        2  Or  '  Pascatir.' 
fies  Komans,  Kipchak,  and  Kangitae.    |       3  With  certain  deductions. 


378  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

is  the  best  Latin  treatment  of  the  subject  in  the  Middle 
Ages.  Even  as  to  the  journey  or  Itinerary, — Carpini  is  so 
regular,  orderly,  and  logical  in  his  treatment  of  the  matter  in 
hand,  Rubruquis  is  so  bewildering  from  his  verbosity  and  his 
incessant  and  long-sustained  digressions — that  the  French- 
man's greater  mass  of  detailed  observation  does  not  leave 
him  so  clear  a  supremacy  after  all.  Carpini,  in  fact,  is  only 
put  at  a  disadvantage  because  his  instructions  forced  him 
to  write  the  study  of  a  people,  rather  than  the  account  of  a 
journey  ;  and  it  is  only  natural  that  modern  geographers 
should  have  preferred  the  rival  narrative  as  more  copiously 
and  dominantly  geographical.  But  it  cannot  be  forgotten 
that  in  some  places  where  Rubruquis  has  received  credit 
for  an  '  earth-knowledge  '  beyond  that  of  his  time  (as  in  the 
recognition  of  the  inland  character  of  the  Caspian),  very 
inaccurate  notions  (as  of  the  nations  on  the  Caspian  coasts) 
likewise  appear.  His  ideas  of  the  geography  of  Eastern 
Europe  are  in  some  respects  like  those  of  the  early  mediaeval 
time,  whereas  Carpini,  mixing  more  with  the  natives  of  the 
country,  has  learnt  his  lesson  almost  from  a  modern  point 
of  view.  Sometimes,  also,  Rubruquis  has  been  credited  with 
scientific  triumphs  of  a  rather  shadowy  kind.  Thus  he  says 
that  the  Don  rises  in  a  vast  lake,  and  as  it  is  true 
that  its  source  is  in  a  little  lake,  much  has  been  made 
of  the  writer's  insight.  We  must  take  this  with  what 
immediately  follows,  and  then  we  might  be  staggered  at  the 
doctrine  that  this  vast  lake,  under  the  name  of  the  Maeotid 
Marshes,  stretched  away  to  the  Northern  Ocean.1  Again, 
Friar  William  makes  the  salt  water  basin  of  the  Sea  of 
Azov  a  creation  of  the  Don  and  a  part  of  the  same ;  he  puts 
the  Mountains  of  the  Assassins  or  Mulehet  on  the  east  of 
the  Caspian  ;  and  the  compass-directions  which  he  gives  us 

1  Cf.  the  American  '  Verrazzano  Sea '  Myth. 


V".]  COMPARISON    OF    CARPINI    AND    RUBRUQUIS        379 

for  his  route  are  almost  always  astray  —  as  in  the  section 
between  the  Crimean  Sudak  and  Batu's  camp  upon  the 
Volga,  or  in  the  reference  to  the  position  of  India  west  of 
Karakorum.  Rubruquis'  account  of  his  journey  from  the 
Caucasus  to  Cilicia  may  be  compared  with  any  part  of 
Carpini's  Itinerary  by  those  who  still  doubt  the  superior 
lucidity  and  narrative-power  of  the  older  Friar;1  and  Brother 
William's  references  to  the  ruling  family  of  Trebizond,  to 
the  journey  of  the  Armenian  King  Hayton,  to  the  wall  of 
Alexander  and  the  Iron  Gates  in  the  Caucasus,  may  be  set 
off  against  John  de  Piano's  confused  language  about  the  Volga 
and  the  Ural  falling  into  the  Sea  of  Greece.2  Rubruquis  gives 
an  excellent  description  of  the  Mongol  Court  and  of  Kara- 
korum ;  he  was,  moreover,  fortunate  in  meeting  with  good 
information  about  China  and  Eastern  Asia;  but  even  here 
he  is  not  entirely  beyond  criticism.3  Thus,  while  in  one 
place  he  puts  Cathay  on  the  Eastern  Ocean,  with  only  sea 
beyond  it,  in  another  place  he  makes  other  lands  border 
Cathay  on  the  east. 

Above  all,  those  who  would  blot  out  the  older  traveller 
in  favour  of  the  younger,  forget  that  some  respect  is  due  to 
priority.  Carpi ni  went  to  the  East  eight  years  before 
William  of  Rubruck,  and  it  is  practically  certain  that  the 
French  ecclesiastic  had  read  (or  heard)  the  narrative  of  his 
Italian  brother  Polycarp?  if  not  in  the  longer  form,  at  any 
rate  in  an  epitome. 

1  This  part  of  Rubruquis'  route  is  i  the  Sea  of  Greece.  He  may  he  think- 
ing only  of  Don  and  Dniepr,  but 
in  any  case,  his  language  would 
mislead. 

3  He  is  not  alone  in  his  mention  of 
Cathay,  cf.  Carpini,  p.  653  (an  admir- 
able description)  ;  or  of  Turkey,  cf. 
Carpini,  p.  680. 

4  Cf.  p.  268  of  Rubruquis'  text  ;  p. 
339  of  this  vol. 


almost  impossible  to  reconstruct,  and 
its  confusions,  digressions,  and  repeti- 
tions are  endless;  but  nowhere  does 
Carpini  leave  us  iu  any  doubt  of  his 
road. 

2  Carpini  does  not  expressly  say  this ; 
he  enumerates  Dniepr,  Don,  Volga, 
and  Ural ;  says  they  were  full  of  fish; 
and  adds  that  'these  rivers'  fell  into 


380  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  Ch. 

-  But  if  there  are  some  grounds  for  refusing  to  oust  the 
first  great  Latin  traveller  in  Central  Asia  from  the  place 
he  has  long  held ;  and  if  we  may  still  ask  for  John  de 
Piano  the  special  honour  of  a  pioneer  and  a  place  in 
mediaeval  land-travel  quite  abreast  of  Friar  William  ;  }7et, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  latter  must  never  again  be  treated 
with  the  neglect  that  has  often  been  his  lot.  For  the 
envoy  of  Louis  IX.,  when  all  deductions  have  been  made, 
was  a  man  of  extraordinary  merit  raid  extraordinary  success. 
We  may  contrast  the  missions  carried  out  by  him  and  by 
Carpini  with  the  abortive  attempts  of  Brother  Bernard 
the  Catalan,  and  the  other  Friars  whom  Eubruquis  en- 
countered in  the  course  of  his  juurney  home,  or  with  those 
of  Ascelin,  Lawrence,  and  the  rest  of  the  official  legates, 
who  by  their  failures  had  already  thrown  some  light  on  the 
difficulties  of  a  Christian  embassy  to  Mongolia. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  we  know  nothing  of  his  life,  his 
appearance,  or  his  character,  except  for  the  casual  remarks 
of  his  own  Itinerary  on  the  heaviness  of  his  body  and  the 
poverty  of  his  dress.  But  from  lioger  Bacon  we  have  one 
word  more — a  reference  to  a  meeting  of  the  English  philoso- 
pher with  the  French  traveller,1  whose  more  important  geo- 
graphical passages  are  well  summarised  in  the  Opus  Majus. 

From  the  time  of  Bacon  to  that  of  Hakluyt  no  one 
seems  to  have  taken  any  interest  in  Eubruquis ;  only  with 
Bergeron's  translation  of  1634:  did  his  own  country  begin 
to  appreciate  and  study  him;  hitherto  John  de  Piano  had 
obscured  him  only  too  effectually.  Thus  neither  Vincent 
of  Beauvais,  nor  Wadding,  the  annalist  of  the  Franciscans, 
nor  Gerard  Mercator  in  Hakluyt's  day,  had  any  clear  ideas 
about  the  French  traveller.  It  wTas  not  altogether  unnatural 
that  Rubruquis  should  be  neglected  by  the  purely  ecclesi- 

1  In  France,  a  few  years  after  his  return. 


V.]  COMPARISON    OF    CARPINI    AND    RUBRUQUIS        381 

astical  writers,  for  his  journey  was  not  of  a  purely  ecclesi- 
astical origin  or  character;  he  was  not  sent  by  the  Pope, 
by  his  Order,  or  by  the  Church,  but  by  the  King  of  France ; 
and,  like  the  Friar  Andrew  of  Longumeau,  he  has  often  been 
treated  as  a  purely  secular  figure.  But  the  indifference 
shown  him  by  'profane'  historians  and  geographers  has 
been  far  more  inexplicable.  Thus  John  Pits  calls  him  an 
Englishman,  Wadding  makes  him  a  native  of  Brabant,  and 
others  have  credited  him  with  two  works  upon  the  East — 
one  an  Itinerary,  and  the  other  a  History  of  the  Tartars, 
both  being  evidently  sub-divisions  or  sub-titles  of  the  report 
we  have.  Only  in  the  middle  of  the  present  century  has  the 
Franciscan  Order  done  justice  in  its  records  to  one  of  the 
most  eminent  of  its  sons;1  a  little  earlier  (in  1839)  the  first 
adequate  edition  appeared  of  the  text  of  Eubruck,  as  well  as 
of  Carpini.  Yet  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century 
Purchas  had  referred  to  the  journey  of  Friar  William  as 
a  'jewel  of  antiquity';  and  in  our  own  day  both  Peschel 
and  Yule  have  drawn  attention  to  the  comparative  freedom 
of  both  the  Latin  envoys  from  legendary  twaddle,  to  their 
vividness  of  narrative  and  humanity  of  outlook,  and  to  their 
admirable  common  sense.  Both  travellers  had  strong  pre- 
judices; both  hated,  and  had  cause  to  hate,  the  Mongols 
who  bullied  and  starved  them  ;  both  are  naturally  critical 
of  the  Nestorian  rivals  of  the  Church  of  Pome ;  but  here 
Pubruquis  passes  beyond  the  limits  of  the  candid  friend 
or  faithful  dealer,  and  loads  his  pages  with  unconvincing 
abuse  of  men  more  successful  than  himself  in  the  con- 
version and  improvement  of  a  hard-drinking,  loose-living, 
and  supremely  arrogant  barbarian  race. 

One   other   traveller  of   this  time  remains,  one  who  is 

1  In     Father    Civezza's     Storia    universale    dellc     Mlssioni    francescane, 
]  857-1 861. 


382  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

closely  connected  with  William  de  Rubruquis.  through  the 
evidence  of  the  Friar's  own  narrative  ; — Hayton,  King  of 
Little  Armenia.  This  mediaeval  principality  had  been 
founded  in  Cilicia  by  exiles  from  Great  Armenia1  in  the 
North,  who  had  set  up  an  anti-Byzantine  state  in  the 
Taurus,  and  who,  pressed  between  Constantinople  and  the 
Saracens,  were  glad  to  ally  themselves  both  with  Franks 
and  Tartars — with  the  former,  in  faith  as  well  as  in  arms ; 
with  the  latter  more  vaguely,  but  not  less  skilfully.  Leo  II., 
in  1198,  had  taken  the  title  of  King,  and  received  the  holy 
rites  of  unction  and  coronation  from  a  Latin  prelate,  Conrad 
of  Wittelsbach,  Archbishop  of  Mainz  ;  he  married  succes- 
sively two  Latin  princesses,  and  conquered  part  of  Isauria ; 
but  his  capital  remained  in  the  highland  fortress  of  Sis, 
although  the  plain,  from  Tarsus  to  Alexanclretta,  now  pro- 
fessed a  like  allegiance ;  and  not  less  significantly  it  was  at 
Sis  that  the  new  Patriarchate,  created  by  the  Southern 
Armenia  as  a  rival  to  Echmiadzin,  found  its  home.  Hayton 
the  traveller  was  son-in-law  and  successor  of  this  Leo  ;  he 
himself  belonged  to  the  family  of  Rupen,  but  he  obtained 
the  throne  by  his  marriage  with  Leo's  only  child  Isabel,  and 
his  father  Constantine  was  but  one  of  his  subjects.  Before 
his  accession  in  1224  he  had  been  constable  and  'bailiff'  of 
the  realm,  and  during  a  reign  of  five-and-forty  years  he  had 
to  keep  every  soldier  in  constant  readiness,  and  to  exercise 
every  quality  of  a  statesmanlike  diplomacy,  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  his  little  kingdom.  All  around  him,  in  this  time, 
went  on  a  struggle  of  fell  and  mighty  opposites,  a  conflict 
of  powers  so  great  that  his  own  could  hardly  weigh  in  the 
scale;  but  early  in  his  reign  he  perceived  one  safe  rule  of 

1  When  the  Byzantines  killed  King  on  incessant  war  against  Constanti- 

Gagik,  one  of  his  relatives,  Rupen  by  nople.     The  Zeitun  Armenians  are  a 

name,    escaped   to   the    Taurus    and  j    relic  of  the  Kingdom  of  Rupen,  Leo 

established    himself    there,    carrying  '    II.,  and  Hayton. 


V.]       JOURNEY  OF  THE  ARMENIAN  SEMPAD      383 

policy  ;  and  that  rule,  faithfully  observed,  brought  his  light 
barque  through  a  tempest  fatal  to  many  heavier,  grander, 
and  more  ancient  vessels. 

For  King  Hay  ton,1  '  the  pious  friend  of  Christ,'  was 
quick  to  discern  the  overwhelming  power  of  the  Mongols, 
and  in  spite  of  his  Latin  faith  and  friendship,  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  make  terms,  and  even  something  of  an  alliance, 
with  the  terrible  Infidel.  This  good  understanding  had 
already  lasted  some  years,  when  (on  the  accession  of  Kuyuk 
in  1248)  Hayton  commissioned  his  brother  Sempad,  the 
Constable  of  the  kingdom,  on  a  mission  to  his  new  overlord, 
to  secure  the  continuance  of  friendly  relations.  Sempad  was 
absent  four  years  on  this  embassy,  and  during  this  time  he 
despatched  to  his  King  a  long  letter,  dated  from  Saurequant 
or  Samarcand,  and  full  of  details  which  helped  to  support 
the  current  delusion  as  to  the  Christianity  of  large  parts 
of  Central  and  Further  Asia.  He  describes  the  gathering 
of  the  Mongol  lords  and  princes,  for  the  election  of  Kuyuk, 
from  India  and  from  Kashgar,  from  Chata  and  from 
Tanchat,  the  home  of  the  Three  Kings  of  old.  Here  all 
the  people  were  Christians,  and  '  believed  in  the  Three 
Kings';  Christian  churches2  stood  before  the  gate  of  the 
Khan's  palace,  and  Christianity  had  become  the  religion  of 
this  great  Sovereign3  and  his  people.  All  over  the  East  the 
true  believers  were  to  be  found,  though  scattered,  possess- 
ing fine,  ancient,  and  well-built  churches,  many  of  which 
had  been  despoiled  by  the  Turks.  It  was  Kuyuk's  grand- 
father, the  great  Ghenghiz  himself,  who  first  gave  Christians 
liberty  of  worship,  and  protected  them  from  Saracen  insults  ; 
now   Moslems  were   despised  and   put  to   nought ;   but  the 

1  In  the  MSS.  usually  'Hethirm.'      i    and  the  Three  Kings.' 
a  'In  their  churches,'  wrote  Sem-  a  The  Khan, 

pad,  !  I  have  seen  pictures  of  Christ 


384 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


[Oh. 


Christian  faith  made  less  progress  than  it  would  have  done 
if  its  preachers  in  these  parts  of  Asia  had  not  been  men  of 
indifferent  character,  who  deserved  a  signal  punishment. 
Sempad  concludes  with  a  story  of  an  Indian  prince,  a 
Christian  in  faith,  who,  with  the  help  of  the  Tartars,  had 
vanquished  the  Saracens ;  in  this  tale  was  perhaps  con- 
tained both  a  suggestion  to  Hayton,  who  was  pursuing  a 
similar  policy,  and  a  justification  of  his  past  conduct. 

King  Hayton  himself  undertook  a  similar  journey  about 
two  years  after  Sempad's  return.  On  the  accession  of 
Mangu  he  received  an  invitation,  or  command,  from  Batu, 
the  King-maker :  and  General  established  in  the  North,  with 
a  countless  multitude,  upon  the  banks  of  the  great  river  Etil ; 
the  faithful  and  favoured  vassal  of  the  Khan  was  summoned 
to  visit  both  the  Western  Horde  upon  the  Volga  and  the 
Imperial  Court  in  Mongolia  ;  nor  did  he  venture  to  disobey. 
But  in  order  to  pass  safely  through  the  neighbouring  Turkish 
realms  in  the  upland  of  Asia  Minor,  where  he  was  hated  and 
feared  as  a  prime  enemy  of  Islam  and  a  client  of  the 
Mongols,  he  found  it  needful  to  disguise  himself;  and  so, 
almost  unattended,  without  baggage  and  without  servants, 
after  twelve  days  of  hazardous  travel,  he  arrived  at  Kars  and 
the  first  Tartar  camp  in  the  early  spring  of  1254.  Here 
Bachu  Noian2  commanded,  and  under  his  protection  the 
Armenian  Prince  stayed  some  time  at  the  foot  of  Mount 
Aragadz  or  Alagoz,  near  the  Metropolitan  Church  of 
Echmiadzin,  waiting  for  the  presents3  which  were  to  be 
sent  after  him,  and   which  soon  appeared   under  the  care 


1  'Basileopator.' 

2  The  Baiju  of  some  writers,  the 
Baachu  of  Rubruquis,  384  ;  and  the 
General  to  whom  the  Pope  sent  Friar 
Anselm  in  1246-47. 

3  It  is  evident  that  Hayton,  hurry- 


ing in  disguise  through  the  land  of 
his  Turkish  enemies,  would  avoid 
encumbering  himself  with  presents, 
or  drawing  attention  to  his  journey 
by  a  numerous  suite. 


v.] 


JOURNEY    OF    KING    HAYTON 


385 


of  a  distinguished  escort.  This  escort  was  apparently  guided 
by  Basil  the  priest,  who  had  brought  Batu's  summons  from 
the  steppes ;  and  among  the  party  were  the  Abbot  James, 
formerly  an  ambassador  to  Nicaea,  who  had  negotiated 
for  an  alliance  with  the  Emperor  John  Palaeologus ; 
also  the  Abbot  Mekhitar  of  Skerra,  who  had  paid  an 
earlier  visit  to  '  the  East,'  a  bishop  named  Stephen,  and 
two  priests. 

With  this  suite,  and  the  indispensable  offerings  they 
brought  for  the  Tartar  lords,  Hayton  resumed  his  journey, 
and  passed  through  Albania  or  the  'land  of  the  Aghovans,' 
the  gate  of  Derbent,  the  fortress  of  Chor  (beyond  the  giant 
wall  of  the  Caucasus)  and  the  North  Caspian  plains,  reaching  at 
last  the  camps  of  Batu  and  Sartach,1  where  he  was  welcomed 
with  marked  distinction,  and  the  pretence,  if  not  the  reality, 
of  cordial  friendship.  On  the  13th  of  May  he  set  out  again 
on  the  next  and  most  trying  stage  of  his  journey,  to  the 
Court  of  Mangu,  the  'immeasurably  long'  road  beyond  the 
Caspian  Sea.  The  narrative  in  this  section  2  only  stops  to 
mention  the  passage  of  the  Paver  Yaik  or  Ural ;  the  arrival 
of  Hayton  at  a  place  called  Hor,  midway  between  the 
Hordes  of  Batu  and  Mangu ;  the  country  of  the  Aumani  or 
Naiman  on  the  Upper  Irtish ; 3  and  the  land  of  the  Kara- 
Khitai  close  to  the  Imperial  headquarters.  On  the  14th  of 
September  the  Great  Khan  received  his  ally  in  'glittering 
splendour,'  accepted  his  presents,  and  for   near   fifty  days 


1  Sartach  was  a  religious  Christian, 
declares  the  writer  of  Hayton's 
Itinerary,  Kirakos  Gandaketsi.  In 
deference  to  Hayton,  indulgence  was 
shown  to  those  of  Rubrinpuis'  party 
who  had  been  left  behind,  and  their 
hard  lot  was  bettered  in  various 
ways.  But  for  the  King,  these  un- 
fortunates believed,  they  would  have 


been  enslaved  while  Rubruquis  was 
still  in  Mongolia. 

2  It  is  supposed  by  Klaproth  and 
Yule  that  Hayton,  on  his  outward 
route,  went  far  to  the  north  of  the 
road  of  Carpini  and  Rubruquis  ;  but 
this  does  not  seem  necessary. 

3  Erthij,  in  Hayton's  narrative, 
i.e.  the.  Mongol  Ertsis. 

B 


386 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


[Cii. 


kept  him  as  an  honoured  guest ;  it  was  not  till  the  1st  of 
November  that  Hayton  started  on  his  return,  by  a  route 
so  distinct  from  almost  all  other  mediaeval  Itineraries  as  to 
deserve  a  more  prominent  place  than  has  usually  been 
given  it.  After  a  month's1  travel  the  King  reached  a 
place  called  G-humsghur,  now  unknown,  but  evidently 
between  Karakorum  and  Barkul;2  next  he  passed  through 
Berbalekh  or  Barkul  and  Bishbalig  or  Urumtsi ;  and  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  latter  he  describes3  a  race  of  wild 
men  scattered  over  a  desert  region,  naked  and  without 
speech  or  language,  whose  heads  were  covered  not  with 
human  but  with  horses'  hair.  In  the  same  country  were 
wild  horses,  of  black  and  yellow  colour,  larger  in  size  than 
the  steeds  tamed  by  man  ;  wild  camels,  also,  with  two  humps, 
and  other  marvels. 

From  the  Pentapolis  represented  by  the  modern  Urumtsi,4 
Hayton  passed  through  a  number  of  towns  whose  position  is 
now  conjectural — Yarlekh,  Kuluk,  Henkakh,  and  Jambalekh. 
The  last-named,  however,  is  an  important  point  in  nearly  all 
the  Chinese  Itineraries  of  Central  Asia  belonging  to  this 
time ;  and  it  answers  to  their  Chang-bala  or  Fung-jun-fu, 
on  the  River  Zeng,  somewhere  between  the  Thian  Shan 
and  the  Lake  Bulkatsi  Nor.  The  next  stages,  Khutapai  or 
Khutaiyai,  and  Anki-  or  Yangi-balekh,  were  probably  in 
the  same  river  basin ;  and  both  must  be  looked  for  west  of 
Jambalekh,5  and  perhaps  in  the  plain  of  Borotala,  near 
Lake  Sairam.     After  this  the  narrative  places  the  '  entrance 


1  Thirty  days. 

2  One  of  the  chief  points  in  the 
road  from  Lake  Sairam  and  the 
Balkhash  basin  along  the  northern 
side  of  the  Thian  Shan  and  over  the 
Gobi  Desert  to  China.  Urumtsi, 
due  west  of  Barkul,  is  almost  midway 
between  this  point  and  Kulja. 


3  Almost  in  the  same  language  as 
Rubruquis. 

4  Bishbalig,  'the  Five  cities,'  the 
ancient  centre  of  the  Uigur  nation. 

5  On  the  main  route  from  the 
modern  Khutukbai,  north-west  of 
Urumtsi. 


v.] 


HAYTON    IN    TURKESTAN 


387 


of  Turkestan/ x  and  the  town  of  Phulat,  Pulad,  or  Bolat — the 
reported  station  of  the  Teuton  captives,  whom  Bubruquis 
so  ardently  desired  to  see,  a  leading  place  in  the  Central 
Asia  of  the  thirteenth-century  Celestials,  and  to  be  fixed 
with  tolerable  certainty  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
of  Lake  Sairam,  the  Sut-kol  of  Hayton.  Thence  the  way 
led  over  the  Borokhoro  Mountains,  a  north-eastern  branch 
of  the  Thian  Shan,  and  (leaving  behind  the  '  Sea  of  Milk ' 
or  '  White  Lake  of  Tranquillity  ' )  it  brought  the  traveller 
down  into  the  basin  of  the  Hi,2  on  the  western  side  of  the 
great  dividing  range,  and  so  to  the  Town  of  Apples  and  Town 
of  Serpents,3  near  the  modern  Korgos,  to  the  west  of  the  pre- 
sent Kulja.  From  this  point  Hayton  crossed  a  range  called 
Thoros  (probably  one  of  the  outliers  of  the  Russian 
'Alexander'  Mountains),  and  appeared  before  Hulagu — 
the  future,  but  already  designated,  conqueror  of  Bagdad — 
at  Talas,4  midway  between  the  Syr  Daria  and  the  Chu. 
To  Hulagu,6  as  Mangu's  brother,  was  entrusted  the  supreme 
command  in  the  south-west  of  the  Mongol  Empire — the  army 
of  the  East  or  the  Levant,  as  Hayton  calls  it — and  he  was  to 
take  the  leading  part  in  the  next, great  forward  movement 
of  Tartar  conquest.  In  this  movement,  against  the  Moslem 
world,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  King  Hayton  was  to  aid ; 
and  his  journey  to  the  Imperial  Horde  may  have  been 
connected  with  the  discussion  of  the  anti-Saracen  projects 
dear  to  both  the  allies. 


1  Tsckopruk  and  Dinka-balekh  are 
the  places  first  mentioned  in  Hayton's 
Record  after  the  '  entry '  into  Tur- 
kestan. Neither  can  be  fixed  at  all 
with  certainty,  or  even  probability. 

2  Hayton's  Ilan-su. 

3  (1)  Halu-balekh  or  Almalik  ;  and 
(2)  Ilan-balekh  ;  (1)  on  the  banks  of 
the  Alimatu,  or  'Apple-bearer,'  which 


joins  the  Korgos  Gol,  a  northern 
tributary  of  the  Hi ;  (2)  the  Cbinese 
lli-bala,  still  marked  by  ruins  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ilan-liash-su,  or  'river 
of  the  Serpent's  Head,'  an  affluent  of 
the  Tsiu. 

4  Probably  not  far  from  the  modern 
Aulie-Ata. 

5  '  Hulavu '  in  Hayton. 


388  DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

From  Talas,1  Hayton  turned  north-west,  following  in  the 
main  the  course  of  the  Syr  Daria,  but  keeping  on  the  further 
or  north-east  side  of  the  Kara-tau  range,  to  Barchin  and 
Sengak  or  Signak,  on  the  44th  parallel  of  north  latitude  and 
a  little  above  the  modern  Julek,  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Jaxartes.  Here  Mount  Thoros 2  began,  and  here  was  the 
old  home  of  the  Seljuk  Turks ;  here  also  Hayton  left  his 
road  and  went  off  to  meet  that  '  religious  Christian,'  Prince 
Sartach,  who  was  on  his  way  to  Mangu,  to  receive  the 
iuvestiture  of  the  Kipchak,  according  to  one  story  ;  to  arrange 
for  taking  part  in  the  attack  on  Bagdad,  according  to 
another.  After  this  digression,  Hayton  returned  to  Signak 
and  retraced  his  course  up  the  valley  of  the  Syr — but  this 
time  in  the  basin  of  the  river  itself  and  along  the  south-west 
side  of  the  Kara-tau — passing  through  the  'large  city'  of 
Savran,  Yasun  or  Hazret- i -Turkestan,  Otrar  the  famous, 
and  Jizzak  on  the  south-west  of  the  Jaxartes,  where  he  again 
reached  a  land  well  known  to  all  Westerns,  the  country 
of  Samarcand  and  Bokhara.  Still  moving  south-west,  he 
crossed  the  Oxus3  (apparently  near  Charjui),  and  by  way  of 
Merv  and  Sarakhs,  entered  Khorasan,  and  approached  the 
frontier  of  the  Mulehet  or  Assassins,  whose  destruction  had 
been  already  decreed  by  Mangu  Khan,4  and  whose  end  was 

1  Up  to  this  point,  from  Urumtsi,  i  now  unknown,  even  by  guess,  but 
he  had  been  following  a  mainly  they  were  probably  along  the  north- 
westerly direction,  with  only  a  little  east  side  of  the  Kara-tau.  Hayton's 
south  in  it.  '  course   in  this   section  of  his  route 

'2  The     Kara  -  tau     is       evidently  ;  must    have    been     very    similar    to 

meant ;  it  is  not  really  separated  from  |  Carpini's.      On    Otrar,    cf.    John   de 


the  Alexander  Mountains  with  which 
it  unites  by  the  Chatkal  and  Chi- 
chichkan  ranges. 

3  The  other  places  he  names 
between  Talas  and  Signak  :  Khu- 
tughtchin,  Barkant,  Sulghan,  Uruso- 
ghun,     Kayi  -  kant,     Khuzarkh 


Piano,  pp.  305-6  of  this  volume. 

4  While  Rubruquis  was  still  at 
the  Mongol  Court,  Mangu  was 
warned  of  an  Assassin  emissary  then 
on  the  way  to  remove  him,  and  in 
consequence  the  extirpation  of  the 
sect  was   immediately   ordered,    and 


Kamots,  and  Khendakhoir,  are  mostly   |    executed  in  1258. 


v.] 


HAYTON    IN    TURKESTAN    AND    ARMENIA 


389 


not  long  delayed.  Skirting  the  southern  coast  of  the 
Caspian,  and  traversing  the  boundary  province  of  Maz- 
anderan,  the  Armenian  prince  seems  to  have  visited  the 
great  cities  of  Eai  (or  Khagae,  near  Teheran),  Khazovin 
(Kazvin,  or  Kasben),  and  Tavrez  (or  Tabriz) ;  thence  crossing 
the  Aras,  he  reappeared  at  the  Court  of  Bachu,  which  had 
apparently  now  been  moved  from  Kars  to  the  fortress  of 
Sitiens,  near  Lake  Gokcha.1 

Thanks  to  the  powerful  aid  of  his  Mongol  allies,  Hayton's 
journey  was  rapid  ;  it  was  only  eight  months  after  quitting 
the  Horde  of  Mangu  that  he  reached  the  borders  of  his 
kingdom  (a.D.  1255);  and  here  he  at  once  resumed  the 
powers  of  government.  He  continued  to  exercise  them  until 
his  abdication  in  1269,  three  years  before  his  death  ;  his 
scribe  Kirakos,  the  actual  compiler  of  the  Eoyal  Itinerary, 
died  in  the  same  year  as  his  master  (a.d.  1272) ;  and  thus 
passed  from  the  world  an  intrepid  and  sagacious  prince,  who 
by  his  timely  friendship  with  the  Power  in  being,  may  have 
helped  to  avert  a  terrible  storm  from  Christendom,  and 
whose  great  journey,  if  recorded  by  a  competent  hand,  might 
have  ranked  with  the  narratives,  of  the  two  chief  Friar- 
travellers  of  the  West. 

The  scribe  concludes  with  a  glance  at  a  few  of  the  good 
stories  which  King  Hayton  was  not  afraid  to  relate  on  his 
return,  and  among  these  none  was  more  curious  than  the 
following,  in  which  modern  students  have  easily  recognised 
the  mystical  tenets  of  Buddhism.  The  idolaters  of  Cathay 
worshipped  a  clay  image  called  Shakemonia.     This  image  re- 


1  A  substitute  for  Bachu  or  Eaiju, 
one  Khoja  Noyan,  seems  to  have 
taken  the  command  of  the  main 
Tartar  army  at  Kars.  Both  going 
and  returning  Hayton  stayed  in  the 


house  of  one  '  Kurd,'  a  Christian 
prince  of  Armenia,  in  the  village  of 
Vardenis,  near  Mount  Arai  and  the 
celebrated  patriarchal  monastery  of 
Echmiadzin. 


390 


DIPLOMATIC    AND    MISSIONARY    TRAVEL 


[Oh. 


presented  a  deity  who  had  ruled  the  world  for  three 
thousand x  years,  and  would  still  rule  it  for  a  hundred  times 
that  period,  or  even  more  ;  at  the  end  of  these  ages  he  would 
be  replaced  by  another  god,  Madri ;  and  these  names  evidently 
represent  the  deified  sage  Sakya  Muni  and  the  coming  Buddha, 


1  3040  exactly,  thus  putting 
Gautama's  birth  about  B.C.  1785  ; 
the  period  yet  to  elapse  was  35 
tumans  (each  tuman  being  equal  to 
10,000  years).  The  name  of  Sakya 
Muni  is  not  recorded  by  any  other 
Christian  traveller  or  writer  of  this 
time. 

Brother  Benedict,  the  Pole,  whose 
short  summary  of  Carpini's  journey 
was  edited  by  Avezac  in  vol.  iv.  of 
the  Paris  Geographical  Society's 
liecueil  de  Voyages  et  de  Memo  ires, 
1839,  pp.  774-779,  adds  very  little 
to  the  narrative  of  John  de  Piano. 
The,  principal  points  have  already 
been  noticed  in  connection  with  Friar 
John's  account.  We  may  add  here — 
(1)  that  according  to  Benedict  'an- 
other '  Franciscan  accompanied  Carpini 
from  Lyons,  on  Easter  I  >ay,  16th  April, 
1245.  This  was  Stephen  of  Bohemia, 
as  is  shown  by  Wadding,  Scriptores, 
221.  (2)  Benedict  joined  Carpini, 
'to  act  as  interpreter,'  at  Breslau  in 
'Poland.'  (3)  Between  Kurancha 
(Curoniza)  and  Batu  (Bati),  the 
journey  took  more  than  five  weeks 
'  from  the  Sunday  Invocavit  to  the 
Thursday  Coenae  Domini,'  i.e.  from 
the  first  Sunday  in  Lent,  20th  Feb- 
ruary, 1246,  to  Holy  Thursday,  5th 
April.  H  ere  is  a  difference  of  one  day 
from  Carjrini's  reckoning.  (4)  The 
great  river  Ethil,  called  Volga  by  the 
Russians,  is  believed  to  be  the  Tanais. 

(5)  The  Friars'  presents  to  Batu  were 
forty  beaver  and  eighty  badger  skins. 

(6)  The  Friars  refused  to  worship  a 


golden  statue  of  the  Emperor  or 
Great  Khan,  which  stood  in  a  cart 
at  Batu's  Horde,  but  were  compelled 
to  bow  the  head.  (7)  The  Mission 
left  Batu  for  Kuyuk  on  Tuesday  after 
Easter,  10th  April ;  Carpini  says 
8th  April.  (8)  The  travellers 
wrapped  their  legs  in  bandages  to 
bear  the  long  rides  better.  (9) 
Romania  was  full  of  wormwood 
(absinciuni),  'as  Ovid  speaks  of  Pontus, 
once  the  name  of  this  very  region.5 
(10)  In  travelling  through  Romania, 
the  Friars  had  on  their  right  the 
Saxi,  believed  to  be  Goths  and 
Christians  (in  the  Crimea);  then  the 
Christian  '  Gazars, '  in  whose  country 
was  the  rich  town  of  Ornarum, 
Hooded  by  the  Tartars  (apparently 
in  a  ditlerent  region  from  Carpini's 
'  Ornas  ') ;  then  the  Christian  '  Cir- 
casses  '  and  Georgians.  (11)  In  Russia 
tbey  had  on  the  left  the  Pagan 
iMorduans  ( Vlordvfns),  Bylers,  and 
Bascards,  '  the  ancient  Ungari '  ; 
then  the  Dog-Headed  folk,  and  the 
Parossits  (Parocitae),  Avho  had  mouths 
so  small  that  they  could  only  suck 
up  liquid.  (12)  The  river  Ural 
(Jagae)  divided  the  Komans  from 
the  Kangitae  ;  in  the  latter's  country 
were  huge  salt  marshes  which  the 
Friars  took  to  be  the  Maeotid  Fens. 
(13)  Thence  through  Turkey  (Turkes- 
tan), where  they  found  the  great  city 
of  Ianckint  (Yengui-kend).  (14) 
The  Pagan  Kara-Khitai  were  once 
masters  of  the  Tartars.  (15)  The 
Mission  stayed  four  months  near  the 


v.] 


HAYTON  S    TALES  ;    EENEDICT    THE    POLE 


391 


Maitreya,  or  Maidari,  who  was  still  waiting  his  time. 
The  whole  nation  of  the  idolaters  of  Cathay  were  ordained 
priests,  shaved  their  heads,  wore  a  yellow  dress,  and  lived 
according  to  a  rule  of  moderation  ;  they  did  not,  however, 
abstain  from  marriage,  which  was  the  legal  status  of  all 
these  Turn  between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  fifty.  Beyond 
Cathay,  moreover,  as  the  traveller  had  been  told,  there 
were  to  be  found  men  like  great  hairy  dogs,  and  women 
endowed  with  reason,  a  startling  contrast  to  their  sisters  of 
the  civilised  world.  There  also  was  a  sandy  island,  rejoicing 
in  the  possession  of  a  sacred  bone,  called  the  Fish's  Tooth, 
and  shaped  like  a  tree  ;  and  many  another  marvel  was  there, 
of  which  the  royal  traveller  could  tell,  but  which  his 
secretary  did  not  think  lit  to  put  in  writing.  As  in  the 
case  of  the  Jewish  wayfarer,  Petachia  of  Eatisbon,  a  bald 
summary  is  all  that  has  survived  of  an  Itinerary  little 
inferior  in  value  and  interest  to  any  other,  even  of  this  time 
of  freshly  awakened  activity  and  boundless  enterprise.1 


Imperial  tent  called  Syra  Orda.  (16) 
Kuyuk  was  elected  by  5000  mighty 
men,  and  received  3000  ambassadors. 
(17)  In  formal  audiences  the  Friars 
had  to  put  baldakin  (purple  tissue) 
over  their  gowns,  like  all  other 
envoys.  (18)  The  Syra  Orda  and 
its  appurtenances  described — the  Im- 
perial dais,  the  screen-work  above 
the  dais,  the  separate  nights  of  steps. 

(19)  The  mother  of  the  Khan  received 
the  Friars  with  kindness  and  courtesy. 

(20)  The  warlike   Georgians,  named 


after  St.  George  their  patron,  were 
respected  by  the  Tartars  for  their 
courage  and  strength  :  some  of  these 
Georgians  frecpiented  the  Friars' 
society.  (21)  On  their  return  the 
Friars  were  accompanied  lifteen  days' 
journey  westward  by  the  envoys  of 
the  Sultan  of  Cairo  ('  Babylon'),  who 
afterwards  struck  off  southward.  (22) 
The  Friars,  on  their  way  home, 
crossed  the  Rhine  at  Cologne. 
1  Sec  additional  note  on  p.  642. 


(     392 


CHAPTER  VI 


COMMERCIAL   TRAVEL 


With  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  in  the  West  the 
maritime  trade  1  of  the  Mediterranean  rapidly  decayed,  and 
almost  down  to  the  commencement  of  the  Crusading  Era 
the  commercial  life  of  European  Christendom,  the  heir  of 
Rome,  was  surprisingly  feeble  ;  but  the  central  period  of  the 
Middle  Ages  is  marked  by  a  mercantile  development  so  great 
as  to  create  a  new  era  in  politics  and  society ;  and  in  this 
time  the  trade  of  the  great  inland  sea  begins  to  spread  into 
regions  beyond  the  Mediterranean  basin,  thus  preparing  the 
way  for  the  discovery  of  yet  more  distant  regions.  For  the 
present  chapter  it  will  be  necessary,  first,  to  summarise  the 
history  of  this  development  on  the  shores  of  the  Marc  In- 
ternum itself;  and,  secondly,  to  trace  the  connections  of 
European  commerce — through  Egypt  and  Syria,  the  Euxine 
coasts  and  Asia  Minor — with  Central,  Southern,  and  Further 
Asia,  where  the  Western  traders  laid  the  foundations,  or  at 
least  built  the  scaffolding,  of  an  ever-growing  Western  in- 
fluence in  the  future. 


1  The  best  account  of  mediaeval 
trade  in  the  Mediterranean  and  ad- 
joining lands  is  certainly  that  of 
Heyd,  especially  in  the  French 
edition,  Histoirc  du  Commerce  du 
Levant  au  moyen  age,  1886,  super- 
seding Depping,  Histoire  du  Commerce 
entire  le  Levant  et  V Europe ;   but  a 


very  meritorious  study  of  the  same 
is  to  be  found  in  Wappaus'  unfinished 
work  on  Heinrich  der  Secfahrer ; — in 
full.  U nter suchungen  iiber  die  .  .  . 
Entdeckungen  der  Portugiesen  unter 
Heinrich  chin  Seefahrer,  1842  ;  ii. 
Abschnitt :  Skizze  des  .  .  .  See- 
handels.  .  .  . 


h.  VI.]        ITALY    AND    BYZANTIUM    IN    COMMERCE  393 

It  is  in  Italy  that  the  commercial  (like  the  intellectual) 
activity  of  mediaeval  Europe  is  habitually  centred  ;  and  the 
beginnings  of  the  new  mercantile  life  are  best  seen  in  the 
rise  of  the  Italian  maritime  cities,  through  which  the  Imperial 
land  renewed  its  youth  even  in  the  most  troubled  period  of 
the  Dark  Ages.  The  Byzantine  reconquest  in  the  sixth 
century  of  so  large  a  part  of  the  Western  Mediterranean  did 
little  to  restore  the  activity  of  commerce.  For  the  policy  of 
Constantinople  was  not  calculated  to  encourage  trade  ;  it  often 
preferred  to  encourage  extortion,  monopoly,  and  the  crudest 
forms  of  protection  ;  and  in  spite  of  the  matchless  situation 
of  the  city  on  the  Bosphorus,  the  masters  of  that  city,  with 
rare  exceptions,  looked  on  calmly  at  the  advances  of  less 
favoured  and  more  industrious  rivals,  acquiesced  in  their 
own  growing  infirmities,  and  were  at  last  content  to  lean 
upon  Italian  traders  for  the  very  necessities  of  mercantile 
supply.  Thus  foreign  ports  came  to  control  the  finances  and 
even  the  politics  of  the  empire  ;  acquired  possessions  on 
every  coast-line  of  the  Byzantine  waters ;  guarded  their 
factories  by  forts,  and  their  forts  by  fleets,  in  the  Archipelago, 
the  Dardanelles,  and  the  Bosphorus;  and  at  last  made  the 
successor  of  Constantine  a  pensioner  and  a  dependent  of  the 
haughty  merchant  princes  of  the  West. 

In  the  earlier  Middle  Ages  the  trade  between  Constanti- 
nople and  the  West  of  Europe  seems  to  have  been  strictly 
limited;  in  periods  of  military  activity  (snch  as  the  reigns  of 
Justinian,  of  the  early  Isaurians,  or  of  Nikephoros  Phokas 
and  his  successors)  munitions  of  war,  stores  of  food  and 
clothing,  and  troops  of  mercenaries  or  volunteers,  passed  to 
and  fro ;  but  in  quieter  times  the  imperative  needs  of  the 
Eastern  Empire  were  usually  satisfied  from  the  corn  lands 
of  the  Black  Sea  and  the  varied  supplies  of  Asia  Minor, 
Greece,  and  the  iEgaean  Islands.     In  this  state  of  commerce 


394  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

there  was  little  of  that  '  modern  '  spirit  so  active  in  mediaeval 
Italy,  creating  new  wants,  stimulating  production,  and  multi- 
plying consumers  ;  there  was  indeed  more  of  such  activity 
in  the  dominions  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Caliphs 
than  of  the  Byzantine  Caesar  during  this  time  ; x  and  the 
conquests  of  the  Saracens  established  in  Syria  and  Egypt  a 
more  liberal  commercial  rule,  and  gave  the  central  markets 
of  the  Levant  a  freer  access  to  countries  which  supplied,  and 
were  supplied  by,  them. 

The  new  mercantile  life  of  Christian  Europe  began  in  the 
north-east  and  south-west  of  Italy  during  the  ninth  century. 
It  arose  in  various  maritime  states,  where  local  freedom  had 
been  achieved,  and  where  a  victory  had  been  gained  over  the 
anarchy  as  well  as  the  petty  tyranny  of  the  time.  Thus 
from  the  beginning  it  was  both  liberal  and  ambitious,  and  in 
some  ways  it  possessed  a  more  highly  developed  character 
than  most  of  the  trade  of  the  ancient  world.  Eor  it  claimed 
greater  privileges  on  behalf  of  the  trader,  as  such  ;  it  attached 
higher,  and  indeed  supreme,  importance  to  the  free  circula- 
tion of  trade ;  it  was  more  daring  and  speculative  in  its 
operations ;  it  was  less  content  with  merely  supplying 
articles  of  primary  necessity ;  it  dealt  with  conveniences  and 
luxuries  in  an  ever  larger  degree ;  and  above  all,  it  devoted 
a  more  strenuous  and  inquisitive  energy  to  the  discovery  and 
conquest  of  promising  markets,  however  remote. 

In  the  upheaval  of  the  Crusades,  the  first  sigus  of  the 
coming  movement  are  given  by  the  attacks  of  Genoa,  Pisa, 
and  the  Christian  fleets  of  South  Italy  upon  the  Saracens  of 
Sicily,  Sardinia,  Corsica,  and  North  Africa.  The  main  line 
of  communication  between  Christendom  and  its  new  outposts 
in  the  Crusading  States  of  the  Levant  passed  over  the  sea, 
and  was  almost  entirely  maintained  by  the  maritime  re- 
1  The  pre-Crusading  period. 


VI.  1  THE    CRUSADES    AND    COMMERCE  395 

publics  of  the  Mediterranean.  Their  fleets  supplied  what 
has  been  called  the  bourgeois  element  in  the  Crusading 
armies ;  they  also  secured  that  indispensable  command  of 
the  sea  by  which  alone  most  of  the  Syrian  ports  could  be 
reduced.  The  commercial  cities  of  the  West,  moreover,  had 
not  only  a  part  in  the  foundation,  but  also  a  great  share  in 
the  organisation,  of  the  Latin  kingdoms  and  principalities 
in  the  Orient.  Alongside  of  the  normal  feudalism  which 
prevailed  in  these  states  was  the  republican  constitution  and 
active  mercantile  life  of  Pisan,  Genoese,  Venetian,  Massiliot, 
and  other  colonies,  planted  in  the  heart  of  the  freshly  con- 
quered  harbour  towns — Acre,  Beirut,  Tripoli,  or  Jaffa.  The 
heyday  of  the  Crusading  power  on  land  was  also  the  heyday 
of  the  maritime  prosperity  of  many  Western  cities ;  and  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  religious  wars  the  main  result  of  the 
struggle  was  clearly  to  be  found  in  the  expansion  of 
Christian  trade,  and  in  the  assimilation  of  no  small  part 
of  Oriental  and  'Moorish'  civilisation.  For  the  meeting 
of  East  and  West  in  this  tremendous  conflict  brought  little 
permanent  gain  to  Europe  and  the  Catholic  world,  in  the 
political  sense ;  through  the  medium  of  commerce,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  directed  the  energies  of  the  Christian  nations 
to  their  true  future.  The  frontal  attack  of  the  Crusaders 
was  unsuccessful,  but  the  Crusading  struggle  imparted  a 
new  culture  and  material  prosperity,  an  increased  know- 
ledge, an  immensely  extended  wealth,  a  restless  but  obstinate 
ambition,  whose  results  were  seen  in  the  Renaissance  of  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  century,  in  the  great  discoveries  both 
of  geography  and  natural  science,  and  in  the  final  triumph 
of  European  arms  and  enterprise  throughout  the  world. 

In  all  this  may  be  recognised  the  working  of  a  spirit  called 
out  and  fostered  by  the  Mediterranean  trade-republics ;  but 
ultimate   success   is   only   realised  through   the    agency   of 


396  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  tf-'H. 

more  powerful  and  unified  states,  more  adequate  representa- 
tives of  the  collective  strength  of  Christian  Europe.  The 
trade  republics  of  the  Middle  Ages  are  nearer  to  the  com- 
mercial life  of  the  modern  world  than  the  Old  Empire ;  but 
the  Old  Empire  must  be  reproduced  in  the  great  modern 
nations  before  the  commercial  expansion  could  become  a 
political  and  racial  victory.  The  work  of  Venice  and  Genoa, 
Pisa  and  Amalfi,  necessarily  pass  in  the  lapse  of  time  to 
France  and  England,  Spain  and  Portugal.  The  narrowness 
of  resource,  the  lack  of  high  political  aim,  the  factious 
littleness  of  the  maritime  cities,  prevent  their  assuming  a 
part  suitable  to  their  wealth  and  industry,  as  the  field  of 
action  broadens  at  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
ablest  of  their  citizens,  putting  forward  schemes  too  great 
for  the  efforts  of  a  town,  are  obliged  to  carry  their  sugges- 
tions elsewhere ;  thus  Columbus,  Verrazzano,  and  the  Cabots 
give  to  Spain,  to  France,  and  to  England,  new  dominions 
beyond  the  sea  which  patriotism  would  have  offered  to  Genoa, 
to  Florence,  and  to  Venice. 

Venice  in  the  north-east,  and  Amalfi  in  the  south-west 
of  Italy,  were  the  first  leaders  of  a  commercial  movement 
which  cannot  well  be  traced  higher  than  the  ninth  ceniury.1 
Like  Naples  and  Gaeta,  Amalfi  still  belonged  in  name  to 
the  Eastern  Empire,  but  as  early  as  about  820  it  had  secured 
free  burgher  rights  and  the  position  of  a  practically  inde- 
pendent city-state.  Twenty  years  later  its  mercantile 
marine  is  noticed  in  contemporary  chronicles ;  its  successes 
in  the  defence  of  Ptome  and  the  incessant  naval  war  against 
the  Saracens  (notably  in  847,  876,  and  890)  made  it  at  the 
close  of  the  Carolingian  period 2  the  foremost  champion  of 

1  But  the  lists  of  doges,  practically   I   both     cities     much     earlier,     about 
independent  republican  chiefs,  nomin-       700. 
ally  vassals  of  Byzantium,  begin  in    '       2  About  850-900. 


VI.] 


EARLY    GREATNESS    OF    AMALFI 


397 


Christian  trade  and  sea  power.  At  the  opening  of  the  tenth 
century,  the  Amalfi  tans  possessed  factories  in  Palermo,  Syra- 
cuse, Messina,  and  other  cities  of  Sicily,  in  Durazzo  on  the 
Eastern  Adriatic  coast,  and  in  Constantinople.  In  the  next 
two  hundred  years  they  developed  a  respectable  trade  with 
Egypt,  Syria,  the  Byzantine  Empire,  and  the  Moslem  world  ; 
at  Antioch,  even  before  1098,  they  obtained  a  concession1 
or  '  quarter,'  similar  to  those  afterwards  granted  by  the 
Crusading  conquerors  ;  at  Jerusalem  they  obtained  a  similar 
and  more  memorable  privilege.  By  treaty  with  the  Fatimite 
Caliph  of  Cairo  they  erected  in  1020  a  church,  and  a  little 
later  a  hospital,  in  the  Holy  City  ;  within  this  precinct, 
they  exercised  an  undivided  control  down  to  the  con- 
quest of  1099,  when  the  College  (or  Society)  of  Amalfitan 
merchants  became  the  military  and  monastic  order  of  the 
Hospital}  During  the  Crusading  period  the  prosperity  and 
power  of  Amalfi  declined,  and  the  Republic  was  only  success- 
ful in  obtaining  trivial  concessions  from  the  new  Latin 
masters  of  Syria ;  as  in  Laodicea  (or  Latakiyeh)  from 
Bohemund  III.,  in  Tripoli  from  Raymond  III.,  in  Acre 
from  the  King  of  Jerusalem.  The  last-named  was  their 
principal  settlement  in  the  Levant ;  but  even  this  was  a 
small  matter  ;  and  the  Amalfitan  commerce  with  Cyprus  and 
Egypt  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  was  a  depress- 
ing contrast  to  that  earlier  period,  when  the  Defender  of  the 
Faith3  was  the  bulwark  of  Italian  Christendom  against 
Saracen  attack,  the  mistress  of  the  chief  Mediterranean 
navy,4  and  the  principal  Western  market  for  the  products 
of  Barbary,  Egypt,  and  the  Orient, — when  the  maritime 
laws  of  the  Tabula  Amaljltana  were  current  among  traders 


1  Including  a  hospice. 

2  Otherwise  the  Knights  of  St.  John 
of  Jerusalem. 


3  Title  conferred  on  Amalfi  by  Pope 
Leo  IV.,  847-855. 

4  At  least  west  of  the  Adriatic. 


398 


COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


on  every  coast  of  the  Inland  Sea, — and  when  the  coin- 
age of  the  Republic  was  the  chief  medium  of  exchange 
between  Latin  Europe  and  the  Levant.1 

Prima  declit  nautis  usum  magnetis  Amalphis,  said  the 
tradition  which  ascribed  to  Flavio  Gioja2  of  this  city,  the 
'  invention '  of  the  compass ;  and  although  it  is  perfectly 
clear  that  the  polarity  of  the  magnet-stone,  and  the  quality 
of  definite  direction  residing  in  magnetised  iron,  had  been 
noticed  before  the  time  of  Gioja  in  France,  Italy,  and 
England,  it  may  well  have  been  a  citizen  of  Amain  who 
first  brought  the  magnet  (fitted  with  its  compass  card) 
into  popular  use,  first  among  the  mariners  of  his  own 
state,  and  afterwards  among  other  seamen  of  Southern 
Europe. 

Meantime  in  the  first  half  century  of  the  Crusading  age, 
'  Melphi'  had  fallen,  like  Naples,  Salerno,  or  Biindisi,  under 


1  On  the  Maritime  Lawa  of  the 
Mediterranean  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
cf.  the  Code  termed  //  Consolato  del 
Mare,  which,  though  claimed  by  some 
as  AmalKtan,  by  others  as  i  isan  or 
Barcelonese,  has  been  referred  to 
the  tenth,  the  eleventh,  and  the 
thirteenth  centuries  by  various 
students :  it  may  contain  matter 
from  each  of  these  periods  ;  cf. 
Boucher's  French  translation  of  II 
Consolato,  i. 72 ;  Muratori,  Dissertation 
45  ;  and  Henry  IV. 's  charter  to  the 
Fisans  of  1081  ( '  consuetudiues,  quas 
habent  de  mari,  sic  .  .  .  observa- 
bimus ').  Capmany  refers  the  Code 
in  its  final  shape  to  the  merchants 
and  lawyers  of  Barcelona  under  James 
the  Conqueror ;  cf.  Codigo  de  las 
costumbres  maritimas  de  Barcelona, 
1791. 

On  the  prosperity  of  Amain,  cf. 
William  of  Apulia,  book  iii.  of  his 
Poema  de  rebus  Normannorum,  given 


in  Muratori,  Her.  Ital.   ScrijAores,  v. 
267,  and  Dissertation  30. 

'  Urbs  haec  dives  opum,  populoque 
referta  videtur,  Nulla  magis  locuples 
argento,  vestibus,  auro.  Partibus 
innumeris  ac  plurimus  urbe  moratur 
Nauta,  maris  coelique  vias  aperire 
peritus.  Hue  et  Alexandri  di versa 
feruntur  at  urbe,  Re^is  et  Antiochi. 
Haec  .  .  .  freta  plurima  transit. 
Hie  Arabes,  Indi,  Siculi  noscuntur 
et  AM.  Haec  gens  est  totum  prope 
nobilitata  per  orbem,  Et  mercanda 
ferens  et  amans  mercata  referre.' 

This  is  curiously  parallel  to  Donizo's 
description  of  Pisa,  but  aj)parently 
more  exaggerated.  The  smallness  of 
the  port  shows  that  Amalli  could 
never  have  had  a  very  great  trade. 

2  Otherwise  Gisia,  born  at  Posi- 
tanum,  a  town  in  the  '  Dukedom  of 
Amain,'  and  supposed  to  have  made 
a  discovery  of  the  pyxis  nautica  in 
about  a.d.  1320,  or  later. 


VI.]  DECLINE    OF   AMALFI  399 

the  land  -  power  of  the  Normans,  while  at  sea  it  had 
undergone  a  decisive  overthrow.  The  aggressions  of  Guay- 
mar  of  Salerno  and  of  the  Norman  conqueror,  Robert 
Guiscard,  did  not  permanently  destroy  the  liberties  of  the 
place,  but  they  were  symptoms  of  coming  destruction  on  one 
side,  like  the  overshadowing  growth  of  Pisa  and  Genoa  on 
another.  Roger  II.,  King  of  Sicily  and  Grand  Duke  of 
Apulia,  the  patron  of  Edrisi,  the  fine  flower  of  Christian 
culture  among  the  sovereigns  of  the  time,  was  execrated  by 
the  republicans  who  had  survived  the  usurpations  of  Guay- 
mar  and  Guiscard  ;  for  in  1131,  on  the  surrender  of  the  city, 
its  constitution  was  sacrificed,  the  town  was  incorporated 
without  distinction  in  the  other  dominions  of  the  'despot,' 
and  its  marine  was  committed  to  a  fatal  struggle  with 
the  Pisan  enemies  of  Roger.  The  defeats  of  1135  and  1137, 
accompanied  by  the  sack  of  the  port1  itself,  were  symbolic  of 
a  decay  that  had  already  begun  ;  trade  had  for  some  time 
been  passing  into  other  hands ;  and  alike  at  Amalfi,  at 
Salerno,  and  at  Trani,  the  Norman  rule,  a  boon  elsewhere, 
could  not  hinder  the  slow  progress  of  decay. 

Yet  in  spite  of  this  general  and  rapid  decline,  the  mer- 
chants of  Amalfi  retained  their  settlement  at  Constantinople 
down  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Byzantine  state  in  1204 ;  sub- 
ject to  the  payment  of  a  certain  tribute  to  Venice,2  they 
carried  on  that  valuable  trade  in  silk  from  the  market  of  the 
Bosphorus  which  they  had  been  among  the  earliest  Latins  to 
pursue  ;  and  their  monasteries  in  the  Imperial  City,  in  Jeru- 
salem, and  at  Mount  Athos,  long  remained  to  them  in  spite 
of  the  ill-will  of  the  Orthodox.  Their  factories  and  colonies 
in  Sicily,  and  especially  at  Messina,  had  arisen  on  the 
Christian  recovery  of  that  rich  island  by  Norman  arms ;  the 
prosperity  of  these  factories  withered  in  the  fierce  commercial 
1  4th-5th  August,  1135.  -  From  a.d.  1082. 


400 


COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL 


[Oh. 


struggle  with  the  greater  harbours  of  Tuscany ;  but,  like  the 
Amalfitan  fontecci  in  the  Nile  Delta,  they  seem  to  have 
retained  some  vitality  into  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
Norman  rulers,  who  could  not  permit  the  political  independ- 
ence of  Salerno  and  Amalfi,  were  anxious  to  promote  the 
interests  of  these  towns  abroad  ;  thus  in  1137,  Roger  II. 
promises  to  obtain  a  reduction  of  the  dues  paid  at  Alexandria, 
at  least  to  the  level  of  the  tax  on  Sicilian  goods. 

At  the  sack  of  1135,  the  Pisans  were  (falsely)  said  to  have 
carried  off  a  unique  copy  of  Justinian's  Pandects  ;  they  cer- 
tainly bore  away  and  transferred  to  themselves  the  glory  and 
prosperity  of  their  rival;  but  for  these  calamities  there  was 
some  compensation  in  the  gain  of  an  important  relic,  the 
body  of  St.  Andrew,  translated  to  Amalfi  in  1208  ;  and  as 
late  as  1258  Amalfitan  traders  apparently  continued  to  make 
voyages  to  Alexandria  and  Acre. 

While  Amalfi  in  the  South- West  was  passing  out  of  sight, 
Venice l  in  the  North-East  was  rising  to  a  position  more  lofty, 
to  a  power  more  extensive  and  sustained,  than  any  other  of 
the  mediaeval  trade-republics.  In  the  Ostrogothic  Kingdom 
of  Theodoric  and  his  successors,   as  under  the  rule  of  the 


1  On  this  Mediterranean  trade  of 
Venice  in  earlier  Middle  Ages,  cf. 
Marin,  St  or  id  civile  e  politico  del 
commercio  de  Veneziani,  especially 
i.,  118,  120,  etc.,  126-127,  145,  176; 
ii.  47,  59,  63,  162-164,  210,  2 16,  220, 
etc.,  230,  232,  237,  246,  263,  etc.  ; 
256,  293-295;  iii.  25-2S,  62,  etc., 
66,  53,  201,  109-128,  167,  282;  iv., 
8,  246,  208-218,  253-254,  298-302; 
vi.,337.  Also  see  Dandolo.  Ghronicon, 
in  Muratori,  Her.  Ital.  Scriptorcs,  vol. 
xii.  ;  and  the  description  of  William 
of  Apulia  in  book  iv.  of  his  Poema  de 
rebus  Normannorum,  given  in  Mura- 
tori, Her.  Ital.  Scriptorcs,  v.  '[classem] 


populosa  Venetia  misit,  Imperii 
prece,  dives  opum,  divesque  viroruni, 
Qua  sinus  Adriacisinterlitus,  ultimus 
undis  Subjacet  Arcturo.  Sunt  hujus 
moenia  gentis  Circumspecta  mari,  nee 
ab  aedibus  alter  et  aedis  Alteriua 
transire  potest,  nisi  lintre  vehatur. 
Semper  aquis  habitant.  Gens  nulla 
valentior  ista  iEquoreis  bellis,  rati- 
umque  per  aequora  ductu.'  Also  see 
Marino  Sanuto,  Vite  del  Duchi 
di  Venczia,  in  Muratori,  Eer.  Ital. 
Scriptores,  xxii.  (already  reprinted 
in  the  new  Muratori,  whose  re- 
issue from  original  MSS.  has  lately 
begun). 


H.]        EARLY  DEVELOPMENT  OF  VENICE        401 

Byzantine  exarchs  who  displaced  the  Ostrogoths,  Eavenna 
was  the  official  capital  of  Italy  ;  its  political  importance  was 
for  a  time  accompanied  by  the  commercial  greatness  of  a 
port  from  which  the  sea  has  now  retired.  But  within  a 
hundred  years  after  the  victory  of  Narses,  the  artificial  trade 
of  Ravenna  was  already  declining,  all  the  more  rapidly  as 
a  genuine  commercial  state  of  the  first  order  was  rising  to 
prominence  in  close  neighbourhood.  The  commerce  of  Venice 
was  originally  concerned  with  the  fish  and  sea-salt  which  the 
boatmen  of  the  lagoons  found  ready  to  their  hand  ;  but  the 
beginnings  of  a  wider  traffic  were  not  long  in  appearing. 
From  the  time  of  Charlemagne  the  Queen  of  the  Adriatic 
began  to  take  a  place  in  the  polities  as  well  as  in  the  com- 
merce of  the  Latin  world.  Its  situation  had  advantages 
beyond  any  other  harbour  town  of  Italy.  Separated  from 
the  mainland  by  the  sea,  and  from  the  open  sea  by  the  low 
fringing  walls  of  its  lagpons,  surrounded  almost  entirely  by 
shallows  pierced  only  by  a  few  deep  channels,  Venice  was 
usually  considered  by  its  own  citizens,  as  by  foreigners,  to  be 
beyond  attack  ;  the  political  troubles  of  the  Continent  made 
it  a  refuge  from  the  time  of  Attila ;  and  the  absence  of  any 
serious  maritime  rival  on  the  Adriatic  left  open  a  valuable 
and  extensive  field  of  operations  for  commerce,  for  colonisa- 
tion, and  even  for  conquest. 

As  early  as  the  eighth  century  the  infant  republic  had  not 
only  begun  to  take  its  permanent  constitutional  shape  ;  it 
had  also  adopted,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  the  main  rules 
of  its  policy  in  external  affairs.  No  mercantile  state  has 
ever  pursued  a  more  constant,  a  more  deliberate,  or  a  more 
prudent  course  of  action  ;  and  as  in  the  case  of  Russia, 
and  the  fictitious  will  of  Peter  the  Great,  men  invented 
some  Testament,  or  Digest  of  fundamental  principles,  which 
they  supposed  to  have  been   left  by  the  earliest  chiefs  of 

2  c 


402  COMMERCIAL   TRAVEL  [Oh. 

the  Republic,  as  their  most  sacred  legacy  to  their  successors. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  any  formal  document ;  but  it 
is  necessary  to  realise  that,  very  early  in  its  career,  the 
Venetian  State  had  reduced  to  practice  certain  rules  of 
policy,  which  all  experience  confirmed.  Among  these  rules 
the  one  that  chiefly  concerns  us  is  that  which  goes  to  the 
root  of  all,  an  absolute  devotion  to  trade  and  maritime  inter- 
course, at  the  expense  of  all  other  interests,  save  only  the 
independence  of  the  city  itself.  The  principles  of  siding 
always  with  the  stronger,  especially  in  maritime  struggles,  of 
maintaining  an  exemption  from  excessive  papal  interference, 
and  of  remaining  on  friendly  terms,  both  with  the  Western 
and  Eastern  Empires,  both  with  the  Franks  and  with  the 
Byzantines,1  were,  in  the  nature  of  things,  liable  to  modifica- 
tion, and  in  later  times  we  find  Venice  acting  in  clear  opposi- 
tion to  some  of  them  ;  but  however  things  might  change,  the 
Republic  always  endeavoured  to  render  itself  indispensable 
to  every  Christian  State  which  possessed  a  powerful  frontage 
on  the  Mediterranean  sea-board.  Thus  under  the  Doge 
Orso  Ipato  (726-737),  Venice  assisted  the  exarch  Eutychius 
against  the  Lombards,  and  helped  the  Byzantines  to  recover 
Ravenna.  In  recompense  for  this  her  citizens  obtained  from 
the  Greek  Emperor  many  valuable  rights  of  trade  in  the 
Pentajpolis.  Increased  trade  enabled  them  to  strengthen  their 
marine,  to  drive  Ravennese  competition  off  the  Adriatic,  and 
to  combat  their  most  troublesome  enemies,  the  pirates  of 
Dalmatia.2  Their  ever-growing  prosperity  now  enabled 
them  to  appear  in  the  first  rank  among  the  foreign  mer- 


1  But  above  all  with  the  latter, 
whose  side  the  Republic  must  espouse, 
if  unhappily  forced  to  take  part  in 
war  between  the  two  Empires. 

2  Venetian  dominion  begins  in  Dal- 


during  the  eleventh  century,  and  in 
1082-S5  is  confirmed  to  the  Republic 
by  Alexius  Comnenus  in  reward  for 
aid  against  the  Normans.  From 
1052  the  Doge  takes  the  title  of  Duke 


matia,   about  997,   greatly  increases      of  Dalmatia. 


VI. ]  VENICE    AND    CONSTANTINOPLE  403 

chants  who  resorted  to  Constantinople  ;  they  were  wise 
enough  to  side  with  Charles  the  Great  in  his  Italian  cam- 
paigns ;  and  the  help  given  by  them  at  Pavia  and  elsewhere 
was  rewarded  by  extensive  privileges  in  the  new  Germano- 
Itoman  Kingdom.  In  864  they  won  decisive  victories  over 
the  Dalmatian  sea-robbers,  and  about  870  the  Doge  Ursus 
gained  as  complete  a  success  near  Taranto  over  the  Saracen 
pirates  who  then  threatened  the  mouth  of  the  Adriatic. 
Both  the  Eastern  and  Western  powers  of  Christendom  were 
grateful  for  this  deliverance,  and  among  other  rewards  they 
gained  from  the  Byzantines  a  new  '  indulgence ' — free  trade 
in  the  Black  Sea.  Owing  to  Saracen  conquests  and  Saracen 
piracy  in  the  Mediterranean  ;  owing,  also,  to  the  control  of 
the  Euxine  still  possessed  by  the  great  Eastern  State  of 
Christendom  ;  owing,  lastly,  to  the  continued  importance  of 
the  ancient  trade  road  from  Central  and  Further  Asia,  along 
the  Northern  and  Southern  walls  of  the  Caucasus,  to  the 
ports  of  Colchis  and  Lazica ;— this  concession  was  of  peculiar 
value,  and  it  was  utilised  to  the  full. 

Liudprand  or  Liutprand,  the  brilliant  and  querulous  Bishop 
of  Cremona,  who  visited  the  Byzantine  Court  as  the  ambas- 
sador of  Otto  I.  in  950  arid  968,  found  a  large  number  of 
Venetian  citizens  in  the  Greek  Army  and  of  Venetian  ships 
in  the  harbour  of  Constantinople  ;  their  merchants  exported 
the  silks  and  stuffs  nominally  confined  to  the  Empire  by  the 
regulations  of  the  Custom-house  ;  and  the  transport  of  letters 
between  North  Italy,  Germany,  and  the  Christian  Orient  was 
entrusted  to  the  vessels  of  the  Republic,  until  in  960  an  angry 
political  correspondence  between  the  West  and  the  East 
caused  the  abrupt  suspension  of  this  service  by  the  Doge 
Pietro  Candiano  (IV.). 

Down  to  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  when  the 
fatal    quarrel    with    Manuel    Comnenus   altered    the    whole 


404  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  tCfl. 

direction  of  Venetian  policy,  the  Byzantine  alliance  and  the 
Byzantine  commerce  were  assiduously  cultivated  ;  but  even 
this  field  did  not  exhaust  the  energies  of  a  rapidly-growing 
marine ;  and  in  pursuit  of  fresh  markets,  Venice,  like 
Amalfi,  was  ready  and  eager  to  traffic  with  the  enemies  of 
Christendom.  Even  in  the  time  of  Charles  the  Great  there 
is  evidence  of  a  clandestine  intercourse  of  this  sort  with 
Syria,  Egypt,  and  North  Africa,  soon  after  detected 
and  forbidden  by  Leo  V.,  the  Armenian.1  The  prohibition 
was  naturally  evaded  ;  and  when  (in  971-972)  a  fresh 
attempt  was  made  by  the  warrior-prince  John  Tzimiskes,2 
in  alliance  with  the  Pope,  to  render  it  effective,  only  the 
trade  in  ship-timber,  iron,  and  military  material  was  called  in 
question.  But  even  this,  however  readily  conceded  in 
theory,  was  difficult  to  enforce  in  practice,  unless  all  inter- 
course with  the  Saracens  was  wholly  broken  off;  and  this 
commerce,  though  deeply  repugnant  to  the  moral  sense  of 
Christendom,  and  a  standing  danger  to  the  entente  cordiale  with 
Byzantium,  seems  never  to  have  been  suppressed.  Within 
twenty  years  after  the  compact  of  972  the  Doge  Pietro 
Orseolo3  sent  ambassadors  to  'all'  the  Moslem  princes,  at 
the  same  time  that  he  despatched  a  special  embassy  to 
Constantinople,  and  obtained  a  reduction  of  dues  from  the 
concpaeror  Basil  IT.,  in  return  for  the  free  use  of  the  Venetian 
fleet,  now,  and  in  all  future  time,  by  the  Byzantine  troops 
passing  over  into   Italy  (March,  992).     The  same  Doge,  by 

1  At  least  as  far  as  Syria  and  Egypt  i  regions  with  which   the   Byzantines 
were  concerned.  !  had    little    or    no    immediate    con- 

2  The  power  of  Constantinople  at  j  cern. 
this  time  was  shown  in  John's  threat  of  |  3  Pietro  II.,  992-1009.   Perhaps  only 


burning  every  ship  found  transgress- 
ing this  rule,  and  in  the  immediate 
stoppage  of  three  vessels  which  were 
sailing  for  Tripoli  in  Africa,  and  for 
El   Mehdia,    the    port    of    Kairwan, 


the  Moslem  Courts  near  the  Mediter- 
ranean coasts  are  meant,  viz.,  Alepjto, 
Damascus,  Kairwan,  Palermo,  and 
Cairo.  Cordova  is  more  doubtful, 
and  Bagdad  improbable. 


VI.]  VENICE    AND    CONSTANTINOPLE  405 

his  victories  over  the  Croatian  and  Dalmatian  pirates  (in  the 
year  1000),  made  A^enice  the  undisputed  mistress  of  the 
Adriatic  ;  and  by  his  treaties  with  Otto  III.,  he  renewed  and 
extended  the  ancient  commerce  of  his  people  in  the  do- 
minions of  the  Holy  Empire.  Germany  and  the  North 
Italian  Upland  were  dependent  on  the  Republic  for  the 
products  of  the  East;  and  when  in  1017  four  Venetian  ships 
laden  with  spices  suffered  shipwreck,  the  event  is  noticed  by 
a  German  chronicler 1  as  a  serious  misfortune. 

From  its  strict  observance  of  a  wise  neutrality  the  State 
reaped  benefits  in  certain  quarters  and  at  certain  times ;  from 
its  almost  unreserved  allegiance  to  Byzantium  in  the  time 
of  Byzantine  revival  (980-1020)  it  prepared  itself  to  profit 
yet  more  in  the  beginnings  of  Byzantine  decline.  Various 
possessions  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  especially  on  the 
Adriatic  coasts,  were  resigned  'on  trust'  to  so  staunch  an 
ally  ;  and  from  the  new  acquisitions  were  derived  not  only 
strength  of  position,  but  increase  of  material  resources,  a 
fresh  supply  of  good  seamen,  and  stores  of  excellent  wood 
for  shipbuilding.  With  the  reign  of  Alexius  Comnenus, 
Venice  reached  the  height  of  its  ambition  as  the  friend,  the 
indispensable  and  favoured  ally — not  yet  the  supplanter — of 
Orthodox  Constantinople.  The  fleet  of  the  Eepublic  played 
an  important  part  in  checking  the  progress  of  Robert  Guis- 
card,  who  had  already  stirred  up  the  Dalmatian  coast  against 
Venetian  rule,  and  allied  himself  with  Ragusa  ;  the  services 
thus  rendered  were  great ;  and  great  were  the  rewards.  It  was 
now  that  the  Amalfitaa  colonies  in  the  Greek  Empire  were 
put  under  a  tribute  to  the  Church  of  St.  Mark  ;  it  was  now 
that  all  the  chief  ports  of  the  Byzantine  coasts  and  the 
principal  markets  of  the  interior  were  opened  to  the  traders 
of  Venice: — Latakiyeh  and  Antioch  in  Syria;  Mopsuestia, 
1  Thietmar,  in  Pevtz  SS.  III..  860. 


406  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

Adana,1  and  Tarsus  in  Cilicia ;  Attalia  or  Satalia  in  Pamphylia  ; 
Strobilos  in  Caria ;  Chios,  Ephesus,  and  Phocaea  in  Western 
Asia  Minor  ;  Heraclea  and  Selymbria  on  the  Sea  of  Marmora  ; 
Chrysopolis  near  the  mouth  of  the  Strymon ;  Demetrias 
on  the  Gulf  of  Volo ;  Abydos  on  the  Hellespont ;  Adrian- 
ople  and  Athens ;  Thebes  and  Thessalonioa ;  Negropont, 
Nauplia,  and  Corinth  ;  Corfu,  Avlou,  Durazzo,  and  several 
other  harbours  on  the  western  coast  of  Greece  and  Epirus. 

Thus,  in  the  years  immediately  preceding  the  first  Crusade, 
Venice  had  attained  to  a  dominant  position  in  all  the  waters 
of  the  Byzantine  Orient,  and  could  look  down  upon  every 
rival.  Amalfi,  which  alone  could  equal  its  antiquity,  was 
clearly  falling  out  of  the  race,  and  was  now  stamped  by  the 
law  of  Constantinople  as  the  inferior  and  tributary  of  Venice 
within  the  Eastern  Empire.  Pisa,  Genoa,  and  the  other 
commercial  republics  were  but  parvenus  beside  the  Bride  of 
the  Adriatic  ;  their  liberties,  their  institutions,  their  maritime 
developments  were  younger;  their  achievements  in  the 
great  field  of  Mediterranean  action  less  considerable.  It  was 
not  unnatural  that  the  Venetians  should  presume  on  their 
success,  and  take  less  advantage  of  the  great  movement  of  the 
Religious  Wars  than  others,  less  wealthy  and  prosperous, 
who  saw  in  this  convulsion  an  unique  opportunity  for 
advancement. 

Yet  it  was,  perhaps,  surprising  to  the  rulers  and  citizens  of 
the  maritime  states  to  find  how  important  the  over-sea  routes 
became  in  the  course  of  the  Crusading  struggle.  The  land- 
ways  so  extensively  used  on  the  first  expedition  of 
1096(-99),  proved  wearisome,  uncertain,  and  dangerous,  con- 


1  Properly  Adatia.  Antioch  was  in 
Christian  hands  from  968  to  1084  ; 
and  was  recovered  by  the  Crusaders 
in  June  1098.      Hciv,  in  about  1070, 


a  Serbian  prince,  Constantine  Bo- 
dinus ;  here  also  they  met  with 
citizens  of  Bari,  who  afterwards  stole 
the  relics  of  St.  Nicholas  from  Myra 


the  Venetians  procured  the  release  of      in  Lycia. 


VI-]  VENICE,    ETC.,    IN    THE    CRUSADES  407 

suming  the  time  and  dissipating  the  energies  of  the  bravest 
warriors.  For  regular  intercourse  between  the  Latin  con- 
querors in  the  Levant  and  their  friends  in  Western  Europe — ■ 
for  a  regular  system  of  supplies  from  the  base  to  the  outposts — ■ 
naval  communication  was  soon  approved  as  the  best  possible 
by  all  concerned — even  though  in  that  age  it  might  truly  be 
said  that  no  landsman  went  to  sea  unless  obliged  to  do  so, 
for  a  voyage  was  being  in  prison  with  the  additional  chance 
of  being  drowned.  But  the  experience  of  the  armies  of 
Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  of  Bohemund,  and  of  Tancred,  over- 
threw Latin  confidence  in  the  Byzantines ;  and  with  re- 
markable energy  the  younger  maritime  states  of  the  Medi- 
terranean seized  the  chance  thus  offered  them.  If  the "  Holy 
Places  could  only  be  held  with  the  aid  of  ships  and  sailors, 
harbours  and  transports,  the  republics  of  Italy,  of  Provence, 
and  of  Catalonia  would  at  least  make  this  route  an  effective 
one.  By  serving  the  cause  of  Christendom  they  served  their 
own  ;  they  multiplied,  many  times  over,  their  carrying  trade ; 
they  largely  increased  their  export  and  import  commerce; 
above  all,  they  acquired  a  privileged,  a  more  than  half 
political,  position  on  the  coasts  of  the  Levant.  As  time  went 
on,  and  they  became  more  indispensable  to  the  Crusading 
princes,  they  were  able  to  dictate  their  terms  more  freely, 
until  the  main  burden  of  the  Holy  War  rested  upon  them  as 
the  chief  holders  of  power. 

The  concessions  won  by  the  mercantile  cities  of  the 
Western  Mediterranean  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Inland 
Sea  wrere  in  close  geographical  agreement  with  their  respective 
fields  of  operation,  with  the  sphere  of  interest  claimed  by 
this  state  or  that.1  Venice,  for  example,  played  a  small  part 
in  North  Syria,  where  Genoa  and  Pisa  dominated ;  but  from 
Tyre  southwards  Pisa  was  of  no  account ;  and  in  all  lands 

Cf.  the  Charter  of  the  Ancona  concession  at  Acre,  1257, 


408  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

effectively  subject  to  the  Byzantine  power  no  serious  com- 
petition disturbed  the  primacy  of  the  Old  Ally,  until  the 
friendship  of  centuries  was  ruined  by  a  short-sighted  and  in- 
toxicated greed  in  the  time  of  Manuel  Comnenus. 

The  concessions  granted  to  the  Western  traders  in 
Levantine  ports,  and  especially  those  of  the  new  kingdom 
of  Jerusalem,  were  of  various  kinds ;  so  far  as  they  applied 
to  land,  they  might  consist  of  scattered  properties  or  small 
estates  lying  out  of  the  towns,  and  sometimes  at  a  consider- 
able distance  up-country;  within  port-towns,  such  as  Acre, 
Jaffa,  or  Tyre,  the  grant  was  sometimes  of  a  piece  of  waste 
land  free  for  building ;  otherwise  it  might  include  a  certain 
number  of  houses,  an  entire  street,  or  even  a  large  portion 
of  the  city.  The  obligations  attached  to  such  holding 
were  usually  defensive ;  offensive  military  service  was  rarely 
mentioned ;  but  the  grantees  were  bound  to  guard  their 
own  property  against  attack,  and  could  not  claim  the  aid  of 
the  feudal  levies,  except  as  a  matter  of  grace  and  Christian 
brotherhood. 

The  cunning  traders  and  seamen  of  the  commercial 
republics  looked  on  the  Crusades  with  very  different  eyes 
from  the  average  Catholic  lords  and  labourers  of  the  inland 
districts  ;  they  were  not  without  religious  enthusiasm,  but 
they  cultivated  it  rather  as  a  useful  commodity  than  as  an 
inevitable  state  of  feeling;  and  they  felt  but  little  of  the 
blind  hatred  against  Islam,  and  the  passionate  veneration 
for  the  Gospel  sites,  which  sincerely  animated  the  great 
body  of  the  warriors  and  pilgrims  they  conveyed  to 
Palestine.  Mercantile  interest  was  never  absent  from 
the  minds  of  those  who  governed,  bought,  or  sold  in 
Venice  and  Pisa,  in  Genoa  and  Amalfi ;  and  this  will  partly 
explain  why  the  greatest  of  Italian  ports,  and  the  most  worldly- 
wise  of  commercial  oligarchies,  did  not  embark  in  the  new 


VI.]  VENICE    IN    THE    CRUSADES  409 

ventures  with  as  much  zeal  as  others  who  had  less  to  lose. 
For  the  Venetians  were  far  more  anxious  to  preserve  and  im- 
prove their  markets  and  their  general  predominance  in  the 
Byzantine  Empire   than  to  endanger   their    whole    position 
by   developing  a   Syrian  commerce,  viewed  "by  the  Greeks 
with  no  small  jealousy.     Yet  their  exertions  were  consider- 
able.    The  competition  of  their  rivals  was  alone  sufficient 
to  compel  a  certain  amount  of  activity  ;  and  the  friendship 
of    Constantinople   did    not   compel   them    to   submit   to   a 
total  exclusion  from  the  new  Syrian  commerce.     In  1099- 
1100  they  sent  a  fleet  of  200  ships  to  Jaffa;  yet  in  return 
for  their  vigorous  assistance,  they  only  obtained  from  Godfrey 
and  Baldwin  a  number  of  rather  trivial  mercantile  privileges. 
Eleven  years  passed  without  any  renewal  of  Venetian  action 
on  a  large  scale;  but  in  1110  an  armament  of  100  vessels 
helped  (like  King  Sigurd  of  Norway)  in  the  conquest   of 
Sidon  ;  in  1117  the  mariners  of  the  Republic  gained  a  use- 
ful victory  over  a  Saracen  fleet  near  Jaffa;  in  1122  another 
armada   of  200    ships   sailed   to    Syria,    besieged    Corfu   on 
the  way,  arrived  in  time  to  rescue  the  Prince  of  Jerusalem 
from  an  awkward  position,  and  at  last  compelled1  the  sur- 
render of  Tyre  in  1124.     Again,  in  1153,  Venice  took  part 
in  the  capture  of  Ascalon ;   both  these  ports2  were  special 
objects  of  Venetian    ambition;  and  by  agreements   of   1117 
and  1118,  renewed  in  1130,  they  obtained  the   promise  of 
vast  concessions  in    the  same,  proprietary  rights  over   one 
third  part  of  each  city,  and  a  large  share  of  the  customs 
revenue.     By  a  vote  of  the  Christian  commanders  at  Acre 
in    1117    the   Venetian   people   were  also  declared   free  of 
all  dues   and  taxes   in.  several   of    the   recently-conquered 
ports,3  but  this  (like  some  other  charters)  was  too  large  a 
promise  for  easy  fulfilment. 

1  They  also  helped  in  the  capture  of  I       '2  Tyre  and  Ascalon. 
Haifa.  s  Especially  in  North  Syria. 


410  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

By  about  1130  Venice  had  its  trading  factories  in  all  the 
harbours  of  Palestine,  and  outside  the  proper  domain  of  the 
King  of  Jerusalem  they  pushed  their  interests  in  North 
Syria ;  a  considerable  fraction  of  their  trade  was  carried 
on  with  Aleppo  and  the  Hinterland  of  Phoenicia  through 
Laodicea  or  Latakiyeh ;  and  both  at  Byblus  and  at  Beirut 
they  secured  large  concessions  (when  the  Moslem  tide  was 
already  returning)  in  1217  and  1220. 

Levantine  travel,  of  a  more  extended,  ambitious,  and 
worldly  character,  was  promoted  by  the  growth  of  Western 
trade  in  these  regions.  Hitherto,  at  least  in  such  stagnant 
times  as  the  eighth  century,  pilgrims  had  been  almost 
the  only  Europeans  who  journeyed  in  Syria,  but  now 
commercial  interests  drew  the  more  daring  traders  over 
the  Lebanon  and  the  Jordan,  and  even  (as  the  thirteenth 
century  drew  on)  to  Mosul  and  to  Bagdad.  About  the 
middle  of  the  Crusading  period  regular  naval  expeditions1 
were  organised  for  the  conveyance  of  peaceful  and  other 
voyagers  from  the  Western  Mediterranean  twice  in  the 
year.  The  summer  'tour'  usually  began  about  the  Feast  of 
St.  John  Baptist,  but  was  sometimes  delayed  into  August  or 
September ;  the  earlier  or  spring  fleet  was  due  to  start  about 
Easter,  though  often  subject  to  delays  which  ran  well  into  the 
middle  of  May.  Venice  was  the  head-centre  of  this  service, 
and  profited  more  than  any  other  city  from  its  continuance ; 
at  the  commencement  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  Magni- 
ficent Seignory  authorised  the  addition  of  a  winter  sailing. 

The  Venetian  aid  given  to  Alexius  Comnenus  on  the  eve 
of  the  first  Crusade  was  renewed  in  1109,  when  Bohemuncl, 
the  Norman,  now  Prince  of  Antioch,  repeated  his  father's 
attack  upon  Durazzo,  in  alliance  with  the  fleets  of  Pisa  and 

1  Cf.     Adam    of    Bremen    on   the    I   North  Sea  to  Marseilles  in  the  later 
voyage  of  pilgrims   round  from   the    |   eleventh  century. 


VI.]  VENICE    AND    PILGRIM    TRAVEL  411 

Genoa.     This  aid  was  effective,  and  gained  for  Venice  even 
more  extensive  privileges  than  before ;    the  concessions  in 
Pera,    in    Constantinople    itself,    in    Durazzo,   and    in    other 
cities    of    Romania,   were   enlarged;    and    an    absolute    im- 
munity from   dues   and   taxes,  and  from  all   but  their  own 
jurisdiction   throughout    the    Empire,   was    bestowed    upon 
the  saviours  of  the  New  Home.     Hence  resulted  a  natural 
increase  of  Venetian  trade  and  power ;   now  that  one  city 
enjoyed  all  the  sunshine  of  the    Byzantine  Court,  that  city 
became  ever  more  prominent  as   a    link  between   Eastern 
and     Western    Christendom,    and    between    the    Christian 
world  as  a  whole  and  the    heathen  world   of   the    Orient. 
Incidentally,  Venice  now  made  a  fresh  start  in  commerce 
with     Germany     and     the    ultramontane     lands;    as     the 
European   staple   of    Mediterranean    trade,    she    concluded 
an   advantageous   treaty    with   the   Emperor    Lothair    III., 
and,  intoxicated    with    past    success    and    present   ambition, 
she  became  reckless   of   her  okler  cautions,  and   careless   of 
the    most    valuable    and    ancient    of    her    alliances.      The 
friendship  of  Byzantium   had  been    a    rule  of   policy    with 
the  earlier  doges  and  senators ;  to  preserve  that  friendship 
the  State  had  many  times  practised  a  self-denial  irritating 
to  the  pride  and  damaging  to  the  fortunes  of  many  citizens ; 
but  in   1155   the  Seignory  passed  into  the  open  alienation 
of  an  unfriendly  neutrality,  refused  aid  to  Manuel  Comnenus 
in  his  war  with  William  of  Sicily,   and  negotiated  a  trade 
convention    with    the    Norman.      A    common    hostility    to 
Frederic  Barbarossa  still  united  Byzantines  and  Venetians 
on  one  important  point ;  Manuel  had  lately  granted  the  latter 
certain  fresh  privileges,  especially  for   the  commerce  with 
Crete  and  Cyprus;  and   the  breach  now  created1  was  not 

1  Unless  we  follow  Heyd  {Commerce   |    the  arrest  of  Venetians  in  Constanti- 
duLevant,i. 216-219)insupposingthat   I    nople,  12th  March,  1171,  was  simply 


412  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

of  his  seeking;  but  he  had  already  shown  a  disposition  to 
admit  other  Italian  traders  to  a  share  of  favour,  and  this 
was  an  unpardonable  offence.  On  the  outbreak  of  the 
quarrel  in  1155,  as  again  on  its  renewal  in  1171,  the  Roman 
sovereign  showed  something  of  the  vigour  of  a  Tzimiskes 
towards  his  troublesome  Western  '  vassals ' ;  and  punished 
Venice  with  a  savage  and  unexpected  energy,  worthy  of  the 
last  strong  ruler  of  Christian  Constantinople.  Discarding 
the  ingrates  of  the  Adriatic,  he  immediately  made  terms  * 
with  the  Genoese  (1155),  assigned  them  a  quarter  in  the 
Imperial  City,  and  granted  them  free  trade  throughout  his 
dominions,  with  the  exception  of  some  Black  Sea  ports.2 
Pisa,  Eagusa,  and  Ancona  were  also  invited  to  take  a 
share  of  the  influence  and  commerce  which  Venice  had 
sacrificed.  At  Ancona  Manuel  established  stores  and 
arsenals ;  at  Zara  and  Pola,  Spalato  and  Eagusa,  his 
agents  put  fresh  life  into  the  auti- Venetian  party  ;  every- 
where his  hand  was  against  the  proud  city,  and  heavy 
upon  it.  In  reprisal,  Venice  incited  Servia  to  make  war 
upon  the  Byzantines,  and  aided  William  of  Sicily  in  his 
struggles  with  Manuel's  navy,  and  Frederic  Barbarossa  in 
his  siege  of  Ancona.  The  quarrel  was  appeased  for  a 
time,  only  to  break  out  again  with  greater  violence  in  1172; 
many  Venetians  in  Constantinople  and  elsewhere  suffered 
arrest  and  imprisonment;  an  immense  quantity  of  goods 
was  confiscated ;  and  not  until  after  the  death  of  Manuel 
in  1180  was  a  hollow  friendship  restored. 

The  renewed  prohibition  of  trade  and  intercourse 
between  Christians  and  Saracens  by  the  Lateran  Council 
of   1179   was  an  advantage  to   Constantinople,  which  now 


to  satisfy  the  greed  of  the  Emperor  ; 
was  without  any  decent  pretext  ;  and 
was  not  cansed,  as  Kinnamos  says,  by 


insults  to  the  Sovereign,  and  refusals 

either  to  apologise  or  to  compensate. 

1  A  treaty  renewed  in  1168-1170. 


Venetian  outrages  upon  the  Genoese,  -  Rosia  and  Matracha;  of.  pp.  421. 


VI.]  VENICE    QUARRELS    WITH    BYZANTIUM  413 

again  stood  forth  as  the  central  market  for  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  East ;  the  Venetians  had  lost  more  than 
they  had  gained  from  their  quarrel  with  Manuel ;  and 
the  accommodation  of  1187  shows  how  many  of  their 
factories  and  settlements  were  placed  on  Byzantine  soil 
and  dependent  upon  a  good  understanding  with  Byzantium. 
At  Philadelphia,  Abydos,  Rodosto,  Adrianople,  Plovdiv  or 
Philippopolis,  Saloniki,  Thebes,  and  Corinth  ;  in  several  of 
the  iEgaean  islands,  such  as  Negropont,  Chios,  and  Lemnos ; 
above  all,  in  Pera  and  Stambul  itself,  their  interests  were 
important,  and  in  many  cases  beyond  the  reach  of  immediate 
support  from  the  sea.  Again,  the  recent  war  had  enabled  the 
Genoese  to  appear  as  formidable  rivals  upon  the  Bosphorus, 
the  Pisans  in  Saloniki ;  German,  French,  English,  Eagusan, 
and  Amalntan  merchants  had  all  flocked  to  the  Queen  of  Cities 
in  the  later  years  of  the  twelfth  century,  during  the  season  of 
Venetian  eclipse;  Anconitan,  Provencal,  Spanish,  and  Danish 
traders  followed ;  even  Armenians,  Russians,  Hungarians, 
Persians,  Egyptians,  and  Syrians,  Iberians  of  the  Caucasus, 
and  Turks  from  the  Seljuk  Kingdom  of  Rum  or  Iconium, 
came  to  increase  the  prosperity  of  a- market  which  Benjamin 
of  Tudela  extols  as  only  equalled  by  Bagdad.1  Venice  had 
need  of  all  its  energy,  and  stooped  to  employ  more  than 
the  usual  subtleties  of  mediaeval  policy,  to  regain  lost 
ground.  In  particular,  she  watched  the  prosperity  of 
Ragusa  (trivial  as  it  was  by  comparison)  with  keen 
suspicion  and  constant  intolerance ;  asserting  her  supremacy 
in  1171,  and  on  four  occasions  during  the  early  thirteenth 
century ;  and  doing  her  utmost  to  hinder  the  Eagusan 
intercourse  with  Nicaea  and  Trebizond  (after  the  fourth 
Crusade),   with    the    Tsars    of    Bulgaria    (especially    from 

1  Cf.   Benjamin  of  Tudela  on  Constantinople  ;  and  Asher's  notes,  vol.  i 
of  his  Benjamin,  pp.  46,  49-51. 


414  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

1197),  and  with  the  Sultans  of    Egypt,  in  whose   port  of 
Alexandria  Rabbi  Benjamin  saw  vessels  from  Rahurphia. 

The  nominal  reconciliation  of  Venetian  and  Byzantine 
polity  after  the  death  of  Manuel  was  not  deep  or  lasting, 
as  the  terrible  anti-Latin  riots  of  1182  sufficiently  proved; 
many  'Adriatic'  merchants  resident1  in  Constantinople 
were  then  massacred ;  and  the  new  Emperor  Alexius  (III.) 
failed  to  compensate  the  survivors  for  the  losses  they  had 
suffered.  What  was  worse  than  all,  he  continued  to  show 
favour  to  the  Pisans  and  other  dangerous  competitors  of 
Venice ;  generally  speaking,  the  state  of  affairs  was  not 
satisfactory  to  those  who  had  so  long  held  a  commercial 
monopoly  of  the  '  Greek '  dominions.  Day  by  day,  com- 
plained their  enemies,  the  men  of  St.  Mark  pierced  ever 
deeper  into  the '  Henri-Pout '  and  Asia  Minor  ;  the  commercial 
agreements  of  1187  and  1189  showed  a  great  practical 
advance  on  the  'privilege'  of  Alexius  in  1082  ;  but  this  was 
no  compensation,  in  the  mind  of  ambitious  Venetians,  for 
the  increased  success  of  their  rivals.  They  did  not  hesitate, 
therefore,  at  a  desperate  stroke  to  recover  their  ascendency  ; 
and  already  in  1202  they  were  making  ready  for  the  great 
crime  consummated  in  1204  —  the  capture  and  sack  of 
Constantinople  and  the  overthrow  of  the  dynasty.  The 
decline  of  the  Byzantine  navy  after  the  death  of  Manuel 
left  the  '  regions  of  Marmora '  in  a  fatal  state  of  exposure  ; 
in  the  last  quarter  of  the  twelfth  century  Pisan,  Genoese, 

1  The  Latin  quarters,  gfj.[lo\ai,  or  |  the  cit}*,  as  is  implied  by  the  Vene- 
embola,  all  lay  upon  the  Golden 
Horn ;  and  the  Venetian  adjoined 
a  part  of  the  quay  which  perhaps 
had  once  been  (before  Theodosius  II., 
408-450)  a  Jewish  leasehold  in  Pera. 
Here  probably  Rabbi  Benjamin  of 
Tudela  lodged,  if  we  may  still  suppose 
a  Hebrew  interest  in  this  section  of  )    adjoining  the  Bosphorus. 


tian  concession  of  K'80,  '  ab  Hebraica 
ad  Viglam.'  Heyd,  however,  denies 
the  survival,  Commerce  du  Levant,  i. 
249-250,  and  maintains  that  through- 
out the  earlier  Middle  Ages  the  Jewish 
quarter  of  Constantinople  was  in  the 
port  of  Galata  (and  of  Galata  only) 


VI]  THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1204  415 

and  other  pirates  desolated  the  coasts  and  islands  of  the 
iEgaean,  and  even  ventured  to  within  sight  of  the  Bosphorus; 
and  when  Philip  Augustus  of  France  returned  from  Palestine 
in  1191  he  found  the  Archipelago  almost  without  inhabitants 
except  for  a  few  colonies  of  corsairs. 

Venice,  then,  in  1204,  was  firmly  planted  at  Byzantium ; 
it  was  even  proposed  to  transfer  to  the  Bosphorus  the  seat 
of  the  Republic's  Government;  the  Doge  became  Despot  of 
Romania;  the  victoiious  city  entitled  itself  Mistress  of  Two- 
Fifths  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Pera  was  made  an  immediate 
possession,  under  a  bailo  or  ijodcsta. ;  all  the  coast  towns 
which  could  be  secured  shared  the  same  fate,  together  with 
a  large  part  of  the  Morea  (valuable  for  its  silk  manufactures) 
Corfu,  Crete  or  Candia,  many  small  islands  in  the  Archi- 
pelago, and  a  portion  of  Negropont.  Thus  a  chain  of 
Venetian  possessions  now  stretched  from  the  Adriatic  to 
the  Black  Sea ;  a  position  of  complete  ascendency  was 
secured  in  all  the  Greek  waters,  and  the  Republic  was 
exalted  to  a  rank  among  the  world's  chief  powers.  By  the 
same  conquests  the  Venetians  acquired  a  command  of  the 
trade  in  Oriental  and  Arctic  products,  and  especially  in 
silks,  spices,  aromatics,  and  costly  furs  and  stuffs;  the 
commerce  of  the  Empire  was  of  all  the  greater  importance, 
because  by  the  Black  Sea  route  came  so  large  a  proportion 
of  the  corn  supply  of  the  Mediterranean  world.  The  new 
masters  of  the  Pontus  pressed  their  advantages  in  every  way. 
They  concluded  treaties  with  the  King  of  Little  Armenia, 
and  the  Emperor  of  Trebizond ;  they  opened  an  inter- 
course with  the  new  Mongol  power  then  overflowing  Georgia 
and  the  east  and  north  coasts  of  the  Inhospitable  Sea ;  and 
for  the  further  development  of  their  trade  and  influence 
they  founded   Tana,1   at   or   near   the   mouth  of  the   Don, 

1  At   the    very   close   of    the    Latin   domination   in    Constantinople,    pro- 
bably not  before  12(30. 


416  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

where  in  early  times  there  had  been  a  Graeco-Scythian 
market.  Nor  was  this  enough  for  Venetian  energy  and 
unscrupulousness.  Ganging  more  accurately,  as  time  went 
on,  the  extreme  stubbornness  of  the  Saracen  resistance 
and  the  inherent  weakness  of  the  Latin  states  of  Syria, 
unsupported  by  any  large  racial  emigration  from  the  "West, 
the  republicans  who  had  assumed  with  so  much  unction 
the  leadership  of  the  fourth  Crusade,  soon  gave  up  all 
pretence  of  devotion  to  the  Holy  Y\rar.  On  the  contrary, 
they  renewed  their  ancient  and  direct  trade  with  the  chief 
Saracen  markets,  and  even  entered  into  close  relations 
with  the  principal  Moslem  sovereigns.  Thus  in  1219  the 
Venetian  podesta  in  Constantinople  concluded  a  treaty  of 
commerce  and  friendship  with  Saladin  of  Iconium  ;  in  1229 
a  similar  agreement  was  made  with  the  Sultan  of  Aleppo, 
an  old  and  valued  customer  ;  and  with  the  rulers  of 
Egypt  there  was  constant  diplomatic  and  mercantile  inter- 
course. The  Egyptian  connection  is  referred  to  by  Saewulf, 
and  illustrated  by  the  treaties  of  1158  and  1175,  the  latter 
signed  by  the  great  Saladin  and  the  Doge  Sebastian  Ziani ; 
it  was  cemented  by  the  unnatural  events  of  1202-1204. 
The  true  centre  of  resistance  to  the  Eastern  Empire  and  the 
Crusaders  was  in  Egypt ;  and  the  Egyptian  Sultans  felt  a 
lively  gratitude  to  the  Christian  city  which  had  undermined 
one  of  the  main  bulwarks  of  Christendom.1  Especial  favour 
was  therefore  shown  to  Venetian  traders  ;  in  1215,  out  of 
3000  Frank  merchants  in  Alexandria,  a  great  proportion 
were  '  men   of  St.  Mark '  ;    and  the  renewed  prohibition  to 

1  To    divert   Byzantine   assistance  [  ceive   a   relic   (or    iclolum)   which   is 

from    the    Crusaders,     Saladin    had  i  captured  on  the  way  by  the  Vene- 

eultivated    a    suspicious    friendship  j  tians ;    about    the    same    time    two 

with  Constantinople  ;    thus  he  sent  j  Genoese   ships   intercepted  Venetian 

presents  to  Isaac  Angelus,   1185-95,  j  barks   conveying   an    Embassy  from 

and  in  1189  the  Saracens  living  in  Isaac  to  the  Court  of  Egypt. 
Constantinople  are  expecting  to  re- 


VT.1  VENICE    AND    THE    MOSLEM    WORLD  417 

export  wood  and  iron  from  Italy  (issued  by  P,  Ziani  in 
1226)  was  merely  taken  as  a  concession  in  words  to  Catholic 
prejudice,  the  fact  of  such  export  remaining,  with  un- 
diminished profit  to  the  good  Catholics  engaged  in  it. 
While  the  Latin  dominion  continued  at  Byzantium  (1204- 
1266),  Venice,  as  the  controlling  power  in  the  Black  Sea, 
controlled  that  traffic  in  slaves  which  was  to  Egypt  what 
the  corn  trade  was  to  other  lands.  In  spite  of  prohibitions 
from  the  Church  and  from  their  own  Government,  and  in 
spite  of  the  scandal  attaching  to  this  commerce,  Venetian 
merchants  continued  to  furnish  Circassian  boys  and  girls, 
as  well  as  European  wood  and  iron,  for  the  Cairo  market; 
and  by  the  contracts  of  1207-8,  1225,  1229,1  and  1238,  they 
put  the  seal,  as  men  said,  on  their  disgrace. 

In  Syria,  meanwhile,  the  establishment  of  her  power  at 
Byzantium,  her  frank  abandonment  of  the  Crusading  cause, 
and  her  intrigues  with  the  Saracens,  almost  of  necessity 
compelled  Venice  to  retire,  gracefully  or  ungracefully,  from 
the  front  rank  ;  and  after  1204  she  only  seems  to  have 
given  much  attention  to  her  colony  at  Acre — where  Genoese, 
Pisans,  Florentines,  Massiliots,  and  even  English,'2  were 
also  represented  in  the  gloomy  years  which  registered  the 
slow  ebbing  of  the  Catholic  tide  and  the  approaching  end 
of  Acre  itself  as  a  Crusading  citadel. 

In  the  second  part  of  this  chapter  we  shall  have  to 
notice  some  of  the  evidence  of  the  ubiquitous  activity  of 
Venetian  citizens  beyond  the  immediate  basin  of  the 
Mediterranean, — in  Bulgaria  and  at  Iconium,  at  Kiev  and 
Damascus,  in  the  upland  of  the  Lesser  Armenia,  at  Trebizond 
and  in    the    Crimea,    at    Tana    and    in    the    regions    of    the 

1  The   treaty  of   1229  is   open   to   ;    tans,    and   citizens   of  Piacenza  and 
some  doubt.  Montpellier. 

2  Also  Luccans,  Siennese,  Anconi- 

2  D 


418  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

Caucasus.  Here  it  is  enough  to  remember  how  the  Re- 
public, under  the  Latin  Empire,  profited  by  its  position  as 
chief  intermediary x  between  the  East  and  West,  to  conclude 
new  arrangements  with  the  Western  Powers,  helpful  to  its 
overland  trade.  In  Italy,  the  cities  of  Bologna,  Treviso, 
Padua,  Mantua,  and  Ravenna ;  in  Germany,  the  Emperors 
Otto  IV.  and  Frederic  II.,  entered  into  treaty2  and  gave 
special  assurances  of  favour  to  the  Venetian  carrying  trade  ; 
in  return,  German  merchants  were  now  permitted  to  acquire 
their  own  magazine  and  quarter  in  Venice,  under  the  super- 
intendence of  three  of  the  Grand  Councillors. 

From  the  first,  Genoa 3  seemed  marked  by  destiny  to  con- 
trast with  Venice.  The  latter,  by  its  position  and  its  history, 
was  drawn  towards  the  Levant,  the  Eastern  Mediterranean, 
and  the  Empire  of  Constantinople ;  the  former  was  as 
strongly  linked  with  the  western  part  of  the  Inland  Sea, 
with  France,  and  especially  with  the  German  or  Holy 
Roman  State.  But  the  Ligurian  Republic  owed  its  great- 
ness and  its  freedom  to  the  Crusades,  which,  though  Catholic 
and  International  in  their  character,  were  geographically 
something  of  an  intrusion  into  the  special  field  of  Venetian 
influence,  and  offered  a  splendid  prize  to  the  swift  and 
vigilant  interloper.  Genoa  had  been  sacked  by  Moslem 
pirates   in    935,   had   fought   by  the   side   of   Pisa   for  the 

1  Together  with  Egypt.     Venetian  i  the     fourteenth      century     ('consul 

activity  in  pioneer  exploration  east-  |  noster  Siami'),  is  doubted  by  Heyd, 

wards    was    remarkable  ;    cf.    Nicolo  I  Commerce  clu  Levant,  ii.  153,  etc. 

Conti    in    India,    before    1444  ;    the  j        ~  1209  and  1220. 
painter    Francesco    Brancaleone     in           3  On  Genoa's  trade  in  the  Mediter- 

Abyssinia  (c.  1450),  even  before  the  ranean  in  the  earlier  Middle  Ages,  cf. 

Portuguese    Covilham  ;     of.     Bruce,  :  Oaffari,  Annates  Geiiuenses,  in  Mura- 

Abyssinia,  ii.  74,  92,  etc.  tori,  Rcr.  Itcd.  Scriptores,  vi. ;   Uberti 

The   Venetian   Consulate    said    to  i  Folieta,  GenuensiumHistoria,  inGrae- 

have  existed  in  Siam  at  the  end  of  '  vius,  Thesaurus  antiquit.  Italiae,  i. 


VL]         EARLY  ENTERPRISES  OF  GENOA        419 

salvation  of  Sardinia,1  and  had  joined  in  the  great  expedition 
of  1087  to  the  coast  of  Tunis;  now  it  was  ready  to  throw 
itself  into  the  Crusading  tide  with  a  sincerity  and  thorough- 
ness which  Venice  could  not  imitate.  For  Genoa  had  no 
double  part  to  play  and  no  Byzantine  friendships  to  con- 
ciliate, until  the  change  of  Venetian  policy  threw  the  Greeks 
into  alliance  with  a  new  friend. 

The  origin  of  the  State  as  an  independent  body  may  be 
found  in  a  campagna  or  political  association,  founded  at  the 
very  close  of  the  eleventh  century,  controlled  by  consuls 
freely  elected,  and  supported  by  the  bishops  of  the  city 
against  secular  lords,  such  as  the  Oberti.  In  the  pre- 
Crusading  period  Pisa,  Amalfi,  and  Venice  all  enjoyed  a 
more  prominent  position  in  Levantine  waters  ;  the  gorgeous 
East  was  not  yet  held  in  fee  by  Genoa;  and  down  to  1100 
the  future  ally  of  the  Palaeologi  was  content  with  Tyrr- 
henian commerce.  The  Norman  Conquest  of  Sicily,  and  the 
heavy  blows  inflicted  by  the  Tuscan  republics  on  '  Barbary 
corsairs '  during  the  second  and  third  quarters  of  the 
eleventh  century,  may  be  said  to  have  cleared  the  road  to 
the  East ;  the  danger  of  flank  attack  was  reduced  to  a 
negligible  quantity  ;  and  from  Norman  Sicily  the  Genoese 
trader  began  to  find  his  way  to  the  Syrian  and  Egyptian 
ports. 

But  it  is  with  the  year  1097  that  Genoa  first  appears  in 
force  upon  these  distant  coasts;  now,  and  again  in  1099,  she 
despatched  warships  and  transports  in  great  force  to  Pales- 
tine ;  she  took  a  foremost  part  in  the  conveyance  of  troops  by 
the  maritime  routes  ;  her  citizens  fought  bravely  at  the  siege 
of  Jerusalem  ;  and,  in  1100,  a  large  Genoese  flotilla,  arriving 
at  Laodicea,  shared  in  the  war  on  the  Phoenician  littoral. 
The   capture  of  Arsuf,   Caesarea,   and    Tortosa  in    1101,   of 

1    1015,  1016,  etc. 


420  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  \0A 

Gibelet  in  1104,  of  Tripoli  in  1109,  and  of  Beyrout  in  1110, 
rewarded  their  exertions,  and  furnished  them  with  ample 
rewards.  Gibelet  was  made  over  to  their  care ;  vast  conces- 
sions in  Tripoli  were  added ;  and  these,  with  the  advantages n 
they  had  already  secured  at  Antioch  in  1098  (a  like  reward 
for  like  assistance),  constituted  a  kind  of  Genoese  principality 
in  Northern  '  Aramaea.'  At  the  fall  of  Antioch  the  Ligurian 
allies  of  Prince  Bohemund  shared  with  the  son  of  Robert 
Guiscard  the  responsibility  of  future  holding  and  defence 
(certain  Provencal  seamen  from  St.  Gilles  also  pledging  them- 
selves to  aid)  ;  and  scarcely  any  recompense  was  too  great  for 
such  alliance.  Among  other  spoils  of  this  region  the  Italian 
mariners  captured  an  immense  quantity  of  pepper,  large 
enough  to  supply  each  sailor  with  two  pounds  of  pungent 
treasure ;  the  watchful  foresight  of  their  leaders  took  care 
that  all  privileges  and  properties  bestowred  upon  the  Genoese 
should  be  recorded  in  letters  of  gold  at  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre.  The  privilege  granted  by  King  Baldwin  in 
1105,  and  the  new  Antioch  charter  of  1106,  also  contributed 
to  the  concessions  enumerated  on  this  tablet ;  by  the  former, 
quarters  in  Jaffa  and  Jerusalem  were  acquired,  with  exclu- 
sive rights  of  administration  and  jurisdiction.  Until  1112 
Genoese  power  and  influence  steadily  increased  on  the 
Levantine  coasts,  but  then  came  something  of  a  break ;  for 
attention  was  diverted  from  East  to  AVest  by  the  growing 
urgency  of  the  quarrel  with  Pisa,  the  battle  for  Corsica, 
and  the  renewed  struggle  with  the  fleets  of  the  Spanish  and 
North  African  Saracens.  The  dispute  over  their  trading 
rights  at  Constantinople  also  helped  to  call  off  their  energies 
from  Palestine.  The  Republic,  in  fact,  was  driven  to  con- 
centrate ;  its  vaulting  ambition  threatened  to  overleap  itself ; 
and  forty  years  were  needed  to  put  things  on  a  safe 
1  Also  a  quarter  in  the  city,  1106. 


VI.]  GENOA     IN    THE    CRUSADES  421 

footing  in  home  waters.  In  1154  the  tide  returned;  from 
this  era  Genoa  speedily  regained,  by  the  ceaseless  activity 
and  skilful  diplomacy  of  its  consuls,  aided  by  papal  favour, 
the  ground  that  had  been  lost  in  the  Prankish  States  of  the 
Orient;  and  what  was  even  more  important,  a  new  chapter 
was  now  opened  in  its  relations  with  Byzantium.  Manuel 
Comnenus,  disgusted  with  Venice,  threw  open  to  the  most 
bitter  rivals  of  the  Old  Ally  a  field  which  had  long  been 
barred x  against  them  ;  but,  in  spite  of  large  concessions  in 
Constantinople,  and  a  grant  of  free  trade  to  all  the  ports 
of  the  Empire  (except  Eosia  and  Matracha2  on  the  North 
Euxine  coast),  the  Genoese  were  not  content.  The 
two  harbours  interdicted  to  their  commerce  (apparently 
at  the  Strait  of  Kertch  and  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Kuban)  were  valuable  for  the  fur  and  grain  trade  of  the 
North ;  the  jealous  prohibition  of  the  Byzantine  Govern- 
ment made  them  seem  doubly  worth  entrance ;  and  Manuel's 
price  was  high.  In  return  for  his  favour,  as  displayed  in 
the  treaties  of  1155  and  1169,  he  expected  the  aid  of  the 
Eepublic  against  the  Hohenstaufen  emperors  of  the  West ; 
but  friendship  with  the  Holy  Empire  (or  German  kingdom) 
was  as  much  a  rule  of  state  with  Genoa  as  the  Byzantine 
alliance  had  been  a  principle  with  Venice,  and  both  here 

1  The    Genoese,    however,    had    a  |    brethren  in  Great  Hungary,  near  the 

factory    in    Constantinople    at    the  Middle     Volga.        The     region      of 

beginning   of  Manuel's   reign  ;    this  Matracha   was  separated   by  a  river 

was  destroyed  in  a   furious  riot  by  from  Ziccia,  or  Zichia,  and  the  Zicci 

Italian  rivals  in  1162.  (mentioned  by  Carpini,  in  connection 

-    Rosia       and       Matracha        (rot  with  Iberians,  Georgians,  and  other 

~Na.TO.pxa    of   Constantino    Porphyro-  !    nations    of   the    Caucasus)  ;    on    the 

gennetos,  the 'Matrica' of  Rubruquis)  '   west,  according  to  Rubruquis,  it  was 

practically    commanded    the    North  bounded   by   the    Strait   of    Kertch, 

Euxine    littoral.       It    was    through  !    Zichia  was  reckoned  among  the  most 

Matracha  that  the  Hungarian  mis-  northerly  territories  of  the  Byzantine 

sionaries  from  the  Theiss  passed  in  Empire. 
1230   on   their  way  to   their   Pagan 


422  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

and  at  Pisa  the  Comnenian  policy  was  a  failure ;  in  fact, 
it  was  only  at  Ancona  that  Manuel's  ambitions  were  com- 
pletely realised.  Both  Venice  and  Constantinople  wearied 
of  a  conflict  as  injurious  to  the  one  as  to  the  other;  and 
though  the  accord  re-established  at  the  close  of  Manuel's 
reign  veiled  a  deep  resentment  and  a  revengeful  ambition, 
it  had  at  least  the  effect  of  restoring  in  great  measure  the 
ascendency  of  the  Venetians,  and  throwing  back  the  in- 
truders from  Genoa  into  their  earlier  obscurity. 

The  latter,  therefore,  had  to  wait  their  time  in  Greek 
waters,  until  the  revolution  of  1204  had  created  a  final 
severance  between  parties,  whose  position,  as  reversed  in 
1261,  formed  the  answer  to  every  prayer,  and  the  realisa- 
tion of  every  wish,  of  the  enemies  of  Venice. 

Meantime  the  Ligurians  vigorously  maintained  their 
interests  in  Palestine,  and  obtained  a  '  quarter '  in  Acre,  and 
new  charters  and  privileges  in  the  dominions  of  Bohemund 
III.  of  Antioch  (1169  and  1189).  Good  account  was  also 
made  of  an  early  friendship  with  the  House  of  Ibelin,  Lords 
of  Beyrout,  and  afterwards  Eegents  of  Cyprus.  At  both 
these  points  Genoa  soon  outstripped  all  rivals  ;  and  no  long 
time  after  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  they 
had  the  especial  gratification  of  ruining  the  Pisan  trade  with 
the  Isle  of  '  Khittim.' 

In  Egypt  Genoa  had  a  certain  commerce  as  early  as 
the  tenth  century,1  and  concluded  a  treaty  of  commerce 
with  the  Fatimite  Caliphs ;  but  it  is  only  in  the  middle 
of  the  twelfth  century  that  we  have  much  evidence  of  this 
ancient  intercourse,  now  evidently  grown  to  large  propor- 
tions.      In   documents    covering   the   years    1155    to    1164 


1  If  we  may  so  understand  the 
fragment  of  an  Arab  (Fatimite) 
diploma  preserved  at  Genoa,  pro- 
mising protection  to  the  citizens  of 


a  Western  City.  In  1063  Ingulf  of 
Croyland  returns  from  Jaffa  in  a 
Genoese  ship. 


VI.]  GENOA   AND    THE     .MOSLEM    WEST  423 

Alexandria  is  mentioned  far  more  often1  than  any  other 
Mediterranean  port  as  the  object  of  Genoese  voyages,  and 
as  furnishing  the  seamen  of  that  city  with  most  of  their 
Oriental  wares — cloves,  Brazil-wood,  alum,  and  pepper.     In 

1131  a  Genoese  ship,  returning  from  Alexandria,  was 
wrecked.  Under  the  next  year  we  still  possess  (if  genuinely 
historical  and  not  merely  an  exercise  of  rhetoric)  the  cor- 
respondence of  two  Genoese  merchants  upon  details  of  the 
Egyptian  trade  ;  in  1177  a  treaty  with  Saladin  puts  this 
commerce  upon  a  new  footing. 

As  with  Egypt,  so  with  Tunis.  The  twelfth  century  saw 
the  old  hostility  rapidly  fading  away  before  the  new  dis- 
position towards  a  mercantile  intercourse  profitable  for  both 
sides;  and  in  1250  Genoa  concluded  (almost  at  the  same 
time  as  Venice)  an  agreement  with  that  Moslem  power 
which  had  so  long  harassed  Christian  Italy.  Here  the 
citizens  of  the  former  were  nearer  to  their  own  special 
field  of  action,  the  Tyrrhenian  Sea ;  for  whatever  they  did, 
attempted,  or  neglected  in  more  distant  parts,  they  clearly 
grasped  the  fact  that  all  else  was  nothing  unless  they 
maintained  their  rank  in  the  Western  Mediterranean.  From 
about  1134  they  had  effectually  weakened  Pisa,  and  thrust 
their  most  dangerous  rival  into  a  lower  place ;  then  they 
took  up  their  old  quarrel  with  Saracen  sea-power,  con- 
veniently labelled  'piracy.'  In  1145  they  attacked  the 
Balearics,  overran  most  of  the  islands,  and  destroyed  many 
nests  of  corsairs.  Soon  after,  they  turned  against  the 
Moslems  of  Andalusia,  stormed  Almeria,  and  carried  off 
(among  other  spoil)  the  marbles  which  still  form  the  main 
front  of  the  Cathedral  of  Genoa. 

In   the  South  of  France  they  were  very  active.     From 

1132  (if  not  earlier)  they  possessed  a  factory  in  Narbonne  ; 

1  Sixty-six  times, 


424  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

in  Montpelher  they  had  already  planted  themselves  before 
the  year  1121  ;  their  Provencal  policy  was  directed  towards 
two  objects.  For  one  thiug,  they  tried  to  hinder  any  direct 
intercourse  between  the  ports  of  this  region  and  the  Levant; 
for  another,  they  did  their  utmost  to  ruin  the  home  trade  of 
these  cities,  to  take  from  them  their  carrying  traffic,  and 
to  prevent  their  developing  that  internal  prosperity  which 
would  enable  them  to  struggle  for  new  markets.  Thus 
they  allied  themselves  with  the  Counts  of  Toulouse  in 
every  attack  upon  the  republican  liberties  of  Marseilles 
and  Montpellier,  especially  in  1143  and  1174;  they 
struggled,  with  persistency  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  to 
shut  the  Provencal  merchants  out  of  Sicily  ;  they  hoped  to 
make  the  Western  Mediterranean  a  Genoese  lake.  The 
audacity  of  their  pretensions  may  be  gathered  from  their 
demand  (of  1109)  upon  Bertram  of  Toulouse,  that  none 
but  Genoese  ships  might  enter  the  port  of  St.  Gilles  ;  and 
from  the  terms  they  sought  to  exact  in  1143  and  1155, 
terms  which  forbade  the  vessels  of  Marseilles  and  Mont- 
pellier from  calling  at  any  port  to  the  south  and  east  of 
Genoa. 

Meantime  they  pushed  their  interests  in  Christian  and 
Moslem  Spain.  In  1127,  a  treaty  with  Count  Raymond 
Berenger  III.  ensured  them  free  entrance  into  all  ports  from 
Nizza  to  the  Ebro,  and  protection  in  the  same,  on  payment 
of  a  moderate  harbour  due.  This  impost  was  removed  :  by 
Raymond  Berenger  IV.,  together  with  '  landing  customs ' 
and  '  anchor  money,'  after  their  zealous  and  effective  aid 
in  the  campaigns  of  1147  and  1148  ;  and  special  rights  of 
property  and  settlement  were  granted  them  in  Tortosa, 
whose  capture  was  mainly  due  to  them.  In  return,  they 
promised  reciprocal  favours  to  Count  Raymond's  subjects 
1  In  harbours  west  of  the  Rhone. 


VI.] 


GENOA  AND  WESTERN  EUROPE 


425 


in  all  the  territories  of  Genoa  ;  and  here  the  Barcelona 
traders  may  have  gained  some  real  advantage. 

The  Genoese  completed  their  work  of  making  an  open 
trade  route  from  Italy  to  the  Atlantic  by  their  compacts 
with  (resulting  from  naval  victories  over)  the  Moorish 
princes  of  Valencia  (1149),  of  Majorca  (1181,  1188),  of  Tunis 
(1250,  etc.),  and  of  the  other  Saracen  principalities  in  North 
Africa  and  Southern  Spain.  Having  cleared  a  path  to  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar,  the  Genoese  were  the  first  Christian 
mariners  to  attempt  serious  discovery  in  the  Western  Ocean, 
and  to  seek  for  the  long  sea  road  to  India,  round  the  coast  of 
the  Dark  Continent.  Incidentally,  as  they  worked  their  way 
towards  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  they  created  a  dominant 
Genoese  interest  on  the  adjacent  coasts,1  and  practically 
excluded  Pisan  competition  ;  their  seamen  acquired  an 
immense  influence  in  the  naval  development  of  Aragon, 
Castile,  Portugal,  and  Sicily ;  even  in  Provence,  to  which 
Genoa  had  been  a  true  step-mother,  Genoese  merchants  were 
exceedingly  powerful  in  financial  and  commercial  matters, 
nominally  encouraging,  often  skilfully  depressing,  the  trade 
of  these  vigorous  rivals. 

But  as  this  period  draws  to  a  close,2  the  growth  of  great 
centralised  inland  kingdoms  both  in  France  and  Spain  was 
already  foreshadowing  a  new  period ; — when  the  most  wealthy 
and  unscrupulous  of  mercantile  republics  would  find  itself 
overmatched  by  superior  resources  and  equal  craft ;  and 
when,  under  the  patronage  of  the  new  continental  states, 
navies   of  even   greater  power   would   arise,  and  discoveries 


1  The  Genoese  also  opened  a  trade 
with  Flanders  very  early  ;  in  1224.  a 
note  of  receipt  in  the  Antwerp 
archives  recorded  the  presence  of  a 
Genoese  captain  at  Sluys. 


The  regular  service  between  Venice 
and  Flanders  did  not  begin  till  1317. 

2  About  the  middle  of  the  thir= 
teenth  century. 


426  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Ofl. 

ruinous     to     Italian    trade    would    be     made     in     distant 
seas. 

Meanwhile  the  Genoese,  secure  in  the  West,  at- 
tempted a  master-stroke  in  the  East,  by  the  overthrow  of 
the  Venetianised  Latin  rule  in  Constantinople,  the  restoration 
of  the  Greeks,  and  their  own  establishment  as  the  indis- 
pensable ally  and  commercial  favourite  of  the  Byzantines. 
As  the  Christian  dominion  in  Syria,  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  fields  of  past  enterprise,  was  manifestly  falling 
to  pieces  ;  as,  moreover,  it  seemed  daily  more  probable  that 
the  Western  intruders  on  the  Bosphorus  would  be  displaced 
without  any  aid  from  others  ;  as,  finally,  the  barriers  of 
common  creed  and  race  had  been  weakened  by  the  action  of 
Venice  herself,  and  by  the  traffic  of  centuries  both  with 
Saracens  and  with  heathen, — it  was  not  in  itself  surprising 
that  Genoa  in  the  crisis  of  1261  took  its  station  by  the  side  of 
Michael  Palaeologus,  and  threw  the  whole  weight  of  its  re- 
sources on  his  '  scale  of  fortune.'  But  the  success  of  the  new 
policy  was  amazingly  complete,  and  its  consequences  were 
very  marked.  It  raised  Genoa  to  a  position  of  full  equality 
with  the  mistress  of  the  Adriatic,  gave  her  for  two  centuries 
the  command  of  the  Black  Sea  trade,  and  more  than  com- 
pensated for  the  losses  which  inevitably  followed  on  the  ruin 
of  the  Christian  kingdoms  in  Syria.  Shortly  before  the 
Byzantine  restoration  events  in  Acre  had  made  the  Genoese 
more  and  more  determined  to  transfer  their  attention  from 
the  Syrian  coast  to  the  Bosphorus  and  the  Greek  waters. 
For  in  1258  a  union  of  rivals,  headed  by  the  Venetians 
and  Pisans,  drove  the  unpopular  Ligurians  from  Ptolemais 
to  Tyre  (which  they  now  made  their  head  station  in  these 
parts),  to  Cyprus,  and  to  Cilicia  or  Little  Armenia,  where 
they  had  secured  their  position  by  the  commercial  agree- 
ments of  1201  and  1215. 


VI.]  GENOA    AND    BYZANTIUM  J    PISA  427 

The  origin  of  the  Pisan  Republic  l  was  similar  to  that  of 
the  Genoese.  In  the  course  of  the  eleventh  century  the 
Marquis  of  Tuscany  lost  control  over  the  city,  and  in 
1085  a  republican  constitution  was  established  by  the 
mediation  of  Bishop  Daibert;  a  charter  of  pacification 
was  issued  the  same  year,  and  consuls  took  the  place  of 
the  feudal  lords.  But  throughout  the  last  two  generations 
of  feudal  supremacy,  Pisa,  though  still  dependent,  was 
gaining  a  famous  name  at  sea.  It  was  of  some  importance 
even  in  the  tenth  century;  in  1017  it  allied  itself  with 
Genoa,  and  achieved  the  conquest  of  the  great  island  of 
Sardinia ;  soon  after  began  the  Pisan  attacks  upon  the 
Barbary  coasts.  In  1035  the  men  of  the  Arno  stormed 
Bona,  the  ancient  Hippo  Regius ;  in  1063  they  forced 
the  port  of  Palermo;  in  1083  and  1087  they  made  two 
brilliant  raids  upon  El  Mehdia,  the  fortress-harbour  of 
Tunis.  With  the  help  of  these  deeds  of  arms  they  ex- 
torted many  trading  privileges  from  the  Moslem  sovereigns 
of  the  Western  Mediterranean ;  from  Alexius  Comnenus 
they  won  the  grant  of  a  most  favoured  nation  clause 
in  Byzantine  waters ;  in  return  for  these  concessions  the 
port  of  Pisa  was  freely  opened  to  foreign  commerce  ;  and 
thus  an  amount  of  traffic  was  drawn  to  the  city,  so  great 
as  to  promise  it  at  one  time  the  first  place  among  the 
Emporia  of  the  Mediterranean.  Western  Orthodoxy 2  was 
shocked  by  the  '  marine  monsters '  from  the  ends  of  the 
earth  who  thronged  the  streets  of  the  city  ;  Pagans,  Turks, 
Libyans,   Parthians,  and   Chaldaeans    defiled   the  town    and 


1  On  Pisa  and  its  Mediterranean 
career  in  the  earlier  Middle  Ages,  cf. 
Chronica  varia  Pisava,  in  Muratori, 
Her.  Itcd.  Scriptores,  vi.  For  the 
Syrian  treaties  and  charters,  cf. 
Muratori,  Aniiqutt.  Ital.  ii.,  and 
Flam,  dal  Borgo,  RaccoUadi  Diplom. 


-  Of.  Donizo,  Life  of  Countess 
Matilda,  i.,  20,  in  Muratori,  Her.  Ital. 
Scriptores,  v.  and  Dissertation  31. 
'  Qui  pergit  Pisas,  videt  illic  monstra 
marina  Haec  urbs  Paganis,  Turchis, 
Libycis  quoque  Parthis  Sordida : 
Chaldaei  sua  lustrant  moenia  tetri,' 


428  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

blackened  its  walls ;  here,  most  of  all,  was  to  be  seen 
the  triumph  of  commercialism  over  all  the  barriers  of 
Latin  exclusiveness,  over  race,  religion,  and  language  alike. 
The  conquest  of  Majorca  in  1114,  following  upon  the 
occupation  of  Sardinia,  seemed  to  establish,  firmly  enough, 
the  supremacy  of  Pisa  in  the  Tyrrhenian  Sea,  and  its 
citizens  turned  with  extraordinary  energy  to  the  Levant. 
They  had  already  done  yeoman  service  before  Antioch 
in  1098;  in  1099  and  1100  a  fleet  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  sail,  under  the  command  of  the  city's  own 
prelate,  Daibert,  afterwards  patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  co- 
operated in  the  sieges  of  Tyre  and  Acre.  For  such  aid 
a  rich  reward  was  not  to  be  refused ;  in  Jaffa,  Godfrey  of 
Bouillon  bestowed  on  Pisan  merchants  an  extensive 
'  quarter '  as  a  fief  of  the  Patriarchate ;  Tancred,  the 
Lord  of  Antioch,  grauted  similar  concessions,  with  exemp- 
tion from  export  and  import  dues,  both  in  his  capital  and 
in  Laodicea.  Later  favours  of  1154,  of  1156  (from  King 
Baldwin  III.),  and  of  1157  (from  Amalric  of  Ascalon),  pro- 
moted Pisan  trade,  and  protected  the  persons  and  property 
of  Pisan  merchants,  especially  in  the  case  of  shipwrecks, 
in  the  '  recognition '  of  wills  and  testaments,  and  in  other 
matters  of  civil  and  criminal  litigation. 

In  no  other  concessions  do  we  possess  greater  detail 
and  fuller  explanation  than  in  the  Pisan,  which  stipulate, 
among  other  things,1  for  the  building  of  churches  and  private 
houses,  of  stores,  custom-houses,  and  courts  of  justice,  of 
factories  and  magazines,  of  baths,  mills,  and  ovens ;  for 
a  fixed  proportion  of  the  customs  revenues ;  and  for  the 
rights  of  using  their  own  weights  and  measures,  and  of 
electing  overseers  or  consuls  of  their  own  nation  to  safe- 
guard their  interests,  both  legal  and  commercial.     No  other 

1  Taking  one  with  another. 


VI.]  PISAN  share  in  crusades  429 

of  the  Italian  Republics,  moreover,  amassed  a  richer  store 
of   treaties,  compacts,  and  agreements  with   the  Crusading 
princes  ;    nor  could  it  well  be  otherwise,  for  Pisa  devoted 
herself    more    zealously   to    the   Syrian    trade    than    any    of 
her  rivals.     As  her  power  waned,  her  energies,  by  a  fatal 
error  of  policy,  were  even  more  concentrated  on  this  field 
than    before.       Her    fleet     took     the     lead     in     attacking 
Alexandria   and  the  Moslems    of   Egypt,  the  most  formid- 
able  of   all ;    King   Amalric   responded   by    concessions    in 
Tyre   (1165)    and  by  the  promise  of  great   rewards  on  the 
conquest   of    the   Nile    valley   (1168-69);    fresh    privileges 
were  secured  in  Antioch  and  Tripoli  from  Count  Bohemund 
111.(1170,  1172,  and  1187) ;  in  the  last  days  of  the  Latin 
Kingdom,    Baldwin    IV.    and    Conrad    of    Montferrat   were 
equally    generous    at    Acre,    Jaffa,   and    Tyre    (1182    and 
1187-88).      These   three    cities   were   the   headquarters    of 
Pisan  trade  in  the  Eastern  Mediterranean ;  Jaffa  contained 
the  most  numerous  of  their  colonies,  the  leading  fundacum 
or   fontecco ;    and     at     Tyre    Pisan    merchants    dominated 
throughout  most  of  the  twelfth  century.     Here  their  Sucietas 
Humiliorum,  was  a  trade  guild,  or  commercial  chamber,  of 
special   interest,   and  the  men  of  the   Republic   helped   to 
save  the  purple  city  from  the    Saracens   in    1187.      Even 
after    Syria    had    really    slipped    out    of    Prankish    hands 
Pisan    diplomacy    continued    to    exhort    charters    from    the 
powerless   kings,    princes,    and    counts,    as    in    1189,    1191, 
1216  and  1229 ;  when   Gnido  enlarged   their  property   and 
privileges  in  Tripoli  ;  when  Conrad  of  Tyre  and  the  Prince 
of    Antioch   confirmed    their    older    rights   in    towns    where 
only    the    shadow    of    former    benefactions    lingered ;    and 
when  Frederic   II.  conferred    useless    favours,  in    Syria,  on 
the    city   whose  power  could   no    longer   maintain    itself    in 
the  Tuscan  seas. 


430  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

At  home  the  great  enemy  of  Pisa  was,  of  course,  Genoa, 
the  faithful  ally  of  the  eleventh  century,  the  destroyer  of 
the  thirteenth ;  but  in  the  Levant  Pisans  were  more 
constantly  at  war  with  Venetians.  Their  conflicts  in 
Byzantine  waters  were  incessant ;  the  Porto  Pisano,  on 
the  Lycian  coast,  east  of  Myra,  was  a  nest  of  Tyrrhenian 
'  pirates ' ;  and  the  efforts  of  Pisan  statesmen  were  long 
directed  towards  the  securing  of  a  direct  route  to  Con- 
stantinople, partly  by  sea  and  partly  overland,  by  way 
of  Ancona,  Zara,  and  Saloniki.  This  project,  fortified  by 
treaties  with  Ancona,  Zara,  and  Pola  (1188,  1195,  etc.), 
was  a  direct  challenge,  like  the  earlier  schemes  of  Manuel 
Comnenus,  to  Venetian  ascendency  in  the  Adriatic,  and 
it  was  resisted  with  every  weapon  at  the  command  of  the 
Seiguory ;  on  their  side  the  Pisans  did  not  hesitate  to  assist 
every  rebellion  against  Venetian  authority  (as  at  Pola  in 
1195) ;  and  their  colony,  grouped  round  the  Church  of  St. 
Nicholas  in  Byzantium,  and  secured  by  the  agreements  of 
1111  and  1192,  was  a  focus  of  every  anti-Venetian  element 
in  the  Eastern  Empire. 

With  Egypt,  Pisan  relations  were  marked  by  a  brilliant 
and  fortunate  duplicity.  On  one  side  they  shared  in  the 
Crusading  enterprises  against  the  Delta  region,  with  such 
energy  as  to  win  recognition  in  the  Syrian  principalities 
and  to  gain  a  foremost  place  in  the  battle  of  concessions ; 
on  the  other  ,  side  they  used  every  art  to  promote  their 
trade  with  the  Fatimite  dominions.1  In  1154  their  envoy 
at  Cairo,  in  his  audience  of  the  Caliph,  promised  that  the 
city  would  give  no  more  aid  to  the  Crusaders;  and  in  1160 

1  In    1150    the    famous    Nicholas,  i  early   as    about    1100.     The    Pisans 

Abbot  of  Tliing-Eyrar  in  Iceland,  a  |  claimed,  also,  to  have  made  voyages 

pilgrim  to  Rome  and  Jerusalem,  saw  j  to  India  by  way  of  Egypt  from  1175  ; 

some  Egyptian  ships  in  the  harbour  this  claim  is  doubted  by  Heyd,  Com- 

of  Pisa,     Relations  probably  began  as  |  merce  du  Levant,  ii.,  154. 


VI.] 


PISA    IN    THE    ADRIATIC,    EGYPT,    ETC. 


431 


the  Moslem  ruler  of  Egypt  was  complacent  enough  to 
order  the  restoration  of  the  Pisan  fontecco  in  Alexandria ; 
yet  not  many  months  had  passed  before  Pisa  inspired  and 
ltd  the  great  attack  of  September,  1163.  In  1156  the 
King  of  Jerusalem  had  arranged  with  his  allies  that  their 
Egyptian  trade  should  not  be  used  to  cover  contraband 
articles ;  iron,  wood,  and  pitch  found  in  Pisan  ships  thither- 
bound  might  be  freely  confiscated.  As  the  Prankish  power 
declined,  and  the  greatness  of  Saladin  began  to  overshadow 
the  Levant,  Pisa  made  great  efforts  to  patch  up  a  new 
treaty;  between  1176  and  1180  they  sent  three  embassies 
to  Egypt;  and  their  trouble  was  not  without  result.  A 
new  privilege  covered  many  a  broken  covenant  in  the 
past. 

With  Spain  and  Sicily,  the  South  of  France,  and  the 
Barbary  States,  the  city  maintained,  and  in  some  places  ex- 
tended, its  commerce  during  the  twelfth  century;  its  traders 
rivalled  the  Genoese  in  their  activity  at  the  fairs  of  St. 
Gilles  and  Frejus ;  and  a  treaty  was  concluded  with 
Montpellier  in  1177,1  which  must  have  strengthened  the 
Provencal  cities  in  their  struggle  against  Genoa.  This 
struggle  had  been,  since  1119,2  an  ever  present  danger  of 
Pisa  herself,  and  each  succeeding  generation  deepened  the 
enmity  between  the  Tuscan  ports.  Till  the  very  close  of 
the  thirteenth  century  the  battle  was  undecided,  and  the 
Pisan  power  appeared  fully  equal  to  her  foes,  the  Pisan 
Empire  more  extensive  and  more  splendid,  the  Pisan  city 
far  more  magnificent.3     But  gradually  the  prospect  darkened. 


1  6th  February. 

2  The  date  of  the  first  war  between 
Pisa  and  Genoa. 

3  Pisa  '  was  the  first  Italian  city 
that  took  pride  in  architectural  mag- 
nificence.'    Her  Cathedral  was  built 


in  the  eleventh  century ;  the  baptis- 
tery, the  leaning  tower,  and  the 
arcades  surrounding  the  Campo  Santo, 
were  mostly  of  the  twelfth,  some 
parts  being  of  the  thirteenth,  cen- 
tury. 


432 


COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


First  of  all,  the  Latin  Empire  in  Constantinople,  followed 
by  the  Greek  restoration,  substituted  a  Venetian,  displaced 
in  turn  by  a  Genoese,  monopoly,  for  the  earlier  and  freer 
conditions  under  which  Pisan  trade  had  flourished  among  the 
Byzantines.  The  utter  overthrow  of  the  Crusading  kingdoms 
in  the  Levant  crippled  the  Pisans'  commerce  in  another 
field,  and  their  expulsion  of  the  Genoese  from  Acre  was 
of  little  use,  for  all  Christians  alike  were  driven  out  in  the 
course  of  the  next  generation.  Finally,  the  maritime 
campaigns  in  the  Western  Mediterranean  tended  more 
and  more  to  failure,  until,  in  1284,1  the  fleet  was  ruined 
and  the  city  too  exhausted  to  equip  another.  The  splendid 
possessions  of  Elba  and  Sardinia  were  soon  after  torn 
away,  and  the  Metropolis  itself  fell  under  the  heavy  hand 
of  fate. 


The  chief  Provencal  ports,  Marseilles,'2  Montpellier,  and 
Narbonne,  were  more  important  in  the  Crusading  period 
than  is  often  supposed.  The  dazzling  fame  of  "Venice,  Genoa, 
and  Pisa  has  blinded  the  eyes  of  the  modern  world,  and 
some  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  mediaeval  maritime 
states  have  been  treated  with  ill-deserved  neglect. 

During  a  large  part  of  the  twelfth  century  the  Massiliots 
despatched  their  '  envoys '  to  Syria  twice  a  year,  probably 
accompanied  by  a  trading  fleet  and  some  ships  of  war ;  they 
also  took  an  active  part  in  furnishing  provisions,  transports, 
and  loans  of  money  to  those  embarking  for  the  Holy  War-. 
Marseilles  became  a  very  favourite  point  of  departure  for 
Western  and  Northern  travellers  to  Syria  ;  pilgrims  from  the 


1  In  the  Battle  off  the  Island  of 
Meloria. 

2  On  the  Mediterranean  commerce 
of  Marseilles,  Montpellier,  etc.,  in 
the  earlier  Middle    Ages,   cf.   Heyd, 


Commerce  du  Levant,  i.  20,  23,  125, 
131, 146-148,  181,  185,  186,  188, 189, 
312,  etc.,  319,  etc.,  327,  etc., 338,  364, 
420. 


VI.]  MARSEILLES,    MONTPELLIER,    ETC.  433 

North  Sea  coasts  and  the  military  monks  of  the  Temple  and 
the  Hospital  specially  favoured  this  route;  and  the  Provencal 
pilots  were  among  the  first  to  make  an  open  course  out  of 
sight  of  )and  across  the  Mediterranean.  This  shortening 
of  landsmen's  agonies  to  a  voyage  of  fifteen  days,  between 
Provence  and  Acre,  begins  in  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 
century,  but  is  only  attempted  in  summer  weather,  and  by 
the  lighter  class  of  vessels  ;  heavier  ships  continued  to  coast 
along  Italy,  to  pass  through  the  Straits  of  Messina,  and  to 
touch  at  Crete,  Rhodes,  and  Cyprus.  The  devotion  of  Mar- 
seilles in  the  sacred  cause  had  its  reward.  In  1117  the 
citizens  received  a  quarter  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  1136  a 
general  exemption  from  dues  in  the  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem ; 
in  1152  Baldwin  III.  conferred  on  them  the  right  of  posses- 
sing a  street  in  each  of  the  chief  Syrian  ports ;  and  in 
1163,  they  obtained  a  valuable  mortgage  in  Acre  from  Bishop 
Rudolf  of  Bethlehem.  In  1187  and  1190  they  rendered 
effective  naval  aid  at  Tyre  and  Acre,  and  in  return,  gained 
an  increase  of  their  privileges,  with  the  rights  of  possessing 
their  own  house  of  justice,  of  building  or  repairing  ships 
in  Syrian  wTaters,  and  of  strengthening  their  Palestine  fleet 
at  discretion.  Thus  it  came  about  that  the  Massiliots 
possessed,  in  1190,  a  sufficient  navy  for  the  transport  of  the 
army  of  Cceur  de  Lion ;  at  this  time  their  commerce  with 
Egypt  was  flourishing ;  the  attempts  of  Genoa  to  retard 
their  progress  had  been  repelled;  and  the  suzerainty  of  the 
Counts  of  Provence  had  become  nominal.  The  tariffs  and 
statutes  of  Marseilles  in  the  thirteenth  century  show  a 
considerable  traffic  with  the  Moslem  world,  and  especially 
with  North  Africa ;  with  Little  Armenia,  Sicily,  and  South 
Italy ;  and   indirectly  with  India.1     The  factories  at  Ceuta, 

1  In  the  dowry  of  a  Marseilles  girl  of  1224,  mace,  ginger,  cardamoms,  and 
galangale  are  mentioned. 

2    F, 


434  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

Bugia,  Alexandria,  and  Acre  were  the  leading  outposts  of  the 
city's  commerce  ;  among  all  its  local  rivals  only  Montpellier 
remained  in  serious  competition  ;  St.  Gilles  (which  traded 
mainly  at  Tyre),  Narbonne  (whose  intercourse  was  chiefly 
with  Acre),  and  Aigues  Mortes  (famous  as  the  first  sea-port 
of  the  French  kings)  no  longer  disputed  the  supremacy  of 
Marseilles. 

Yet,  in  the  age  of  Frederic  II.  and  Louis  IX.,  the 
growing  power  of  the  inland  monarchy  checked  the  de- 
velopment even  of  the  greatest  Provencal  cities  as  inde- 
pendent republics.  The  Moslem  recovery  in  the  Levant 
was  not  wholly  beneficial  to  their  trade  and  influence  ;  and 
both  Marseilles  and  Montpellier  were  made  to  feel,  as  the 
thirteenth  century  drew  on,  that  their  future  was  being- 
more  closely  bound  up  with  the  new  kingdoms  of  France 
and  Spain.  In  1204  Montpellier  fell  into  the  power  of 
Aragon ;  but  under  the  sane  and  vigorous  rule  of  James  I. 
'  the  Conqueror,'  its  material  welfare,  far  from  suffering,  was 
so  increased,  that  the  city  was  reckoned  among  the  leading- 
markets  of  Christendom.  Alexandria,  Beyrout,  Tripoli,  and 
Tyre  were  the  favourite  centres  of  its  trade  in  the  Levant ; 
its  commercial  colony  in  the  Delta,  founded  before  1250, 
was  especially  famous ;  and  its  Egyptian  trade,  like  that 
of  Barcelona,  was  actively  furthered  by  King  James.  In 
1267  two  citizens  of  Montpellier  were  despatched  by  him 
on  a  mission  partly  diplomatic,  partly  commercial.  The 
result  of  this  is  not  clear;  but  it  is  evident  that  after  the 
death  of  her  great  prince  the  town  declined  as  a  com- 
mercial capital,  and  that  its  carrying  trade  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Venetians  and  other  Italians. 

rTarbonne  is  of  peculiar  interest  in  the  earlier  Crusading 
period  as  the  medium  of  a  trade  between  two  distant 
countries,    England    and    Egypt,    whose    connections    were 


VI.] 


CATALAN    TRADE    AND    SEAMANSHIP 


435 


weakened  in  the  later  Middle  Ages  by  the  French  conquest 
of  this  region.  This  commercial  route  passed  through 
Bordeaux  and  Toulouse  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  brought 
the  tin  and  copper  of  Britain  to  exchange  against  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  Levant.1 

The  Catalans'2  were  the  first  among  Spanish  peoples 
who  developed  on  lines  parallel  to  those  of  the  Italian 
commercial  republics.  As  early  as  the  ninth  century, 
the  proceeds  of  land  and  water  customs  make  an  item  in 
the  revenues  of  the  Catalan  princes ;  the  latter  encouraged 
maritime  industry  among  their  subjects  in  every  way  ;  and 
by  the  twelfth  century  Barcelona  had  become  a  free  port 
for  all  Mediterranean  traders,  and  was  entering  upon 
a  very  prosperous  future.  The  temporary  conquest  of 
Majorca  in  1114  by  the  fleets  of  Pisa  and  Count  Raymond 
Berenger  III.,  the  commercial  treaty  of  1127  with  Genoa, 
the  overthrow  of  Almeria  in  1147,  all  helped  forward  the 
marine  and  commerce  of  Catalonia ;  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  in 
1159,  witnesses  to  the  resort  of  merchants  from  all  parts 
of  the  world  to  Barcelona ;  many  Italian  merchants,  by 
settling  in  the  Catalan  ports,  still  further  increased  their 
importance ;  and  trade  between  the  north-east  and  the  south 
of  the  Peninsula  attained  considerable  dimensions  even 
before  the  re-conquest  of  Valencia  and  Murcia,  of  Cordova 
and  Seville,  by  James  I.  of  Aragou  and  St.  Ferdinand  of 
Castile. 

The  Catalans  also,  like  the  Amalfitans,  devoted  special 
attention,  with  excellent  results,  to  the  fixing  and  codifica- 


1   Ibn  Said. 

-  On  the  Catalan  trade  in  the 
earlier  Middle  Ages,  cf.  Capmany, 
Memorias  historicas  sobre  la  marina, 
commcrcio,  y  artes  de  Barcelona,  and 


especially  the  Collect  io  diplomatica  in 
torn.  ii.  ;  Navarrete,  .  .  Los  Es- 
poMoles  .  .  .  en  las  cruzadas,  disei- 
tacion  hist. 


436  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

tion  of  maritime  and  commercial  law,  to  the  system  of 
consular  representation  for  the  development  of  trade,  and 
to  the  elaboration  of  a  scientific  cartography,  based  on  coast- 
surveys.  The  latter  achievement,  which  gave  us  the  Porto- 
lani — the  first  accurate  maps  of  any  part  of  the  world — was 
perhaps  due,  in  its  inception,  rather  to  Genoese  or  Pisans 
than  to  Catalans ;  but  the  seamen  of  Barcelona  and  the 
Balearics  certainly  had  a  share,  and  an  important  share,  in 
this  work.  The  conquest  of  Majorca  by  James  I.  of  Aragon 
in  1227  freed  Catalan  trade  from  an  old  danger;  and  now  a 
commerce  which  was  already  respectable  made  rapid  progress. 
From  1  230  Barcelona  merchants  began  to  resort  to  foreign 
parts  in  large  numbers;  from  about  1260  their  Levantine 
traffic  became  really  important.  Yet  before  the  close  of  the 
twelfth  century  we  hear  of  a  joint-colony  of  Barcelonese 
and  Provencals  at  Tyre,  and  the  Aragonese  dominions 
already  imported  spices  from  Syria  and  the  Nile. 

Almost  wholly  undisturbed  by  Church  prohibitions,  the 
Catalans  maintained  a  vigorous  trade  with  the  Mohammedan 
states,  both  of  Southern  Spain  and  of  Northern  Africa,  from 
the  opening  of  the  twelfth  century.  Even  with  Egypt  the 
spice-commerce  had  so  increased  that  in  1250  James  I. 
concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Sultan  of  Cairo,  through  the 
medium  of  two  Barcelonese  merchants  engaged  in  this 
traffic.  The  same  king,  thirteen  years  earlier,  in  1237,  had 
guaranteed  the  shipbuilders  of  Barcelona  state-protection 
for  their  intercourse  with  Egypt — although  this  wood  for 
shipbuilding  was  among  the  articles  which  ecclesiastical 
censures  had  long  forbidden  Christians  to  export  under 
any  name  to  the  unbelievers.  No  foreign  vessel,  James 
ordained,  might  be  freighted  in  Barcelona  for  Egypt,  Syria, 
or  Barbary,  while  there  remained  in  port  any  Catalan  ship 
bound  for  any  of  these  countries. 


VI.]  COMMERCE    AT    BARCELONA,  SEVILLE,   ETC.        437 

In  the  rise  of  Barcelona  we  see  the  drawbacks  and  the 
advantages  of  a  state,  not  under  independent  or  republican 
institutions — not  aided,  like  Pisa,  Genoa,  or  Venice,  by  its 
participation  in  the  Crusading  movement- — but  under  the 
protection  of  powerful  Continental  princes,  and  uniting  a 
measure  of  internal  liberty  with  external  obedience  to  a 
land-power  able  to  protect  the  commerce  of  its  shores  by 
a  far  greater  force  than  a  maritime  republic,  pure  and 
simple,  could  ever  display. 

In  Northern  and  Western  Spain  the  Biscayans  and 
Galicians  wTere,  from  an  early  age,  hardy  and  daring 
fishermen,  and  chased  whales  in  the  Atlantic.  Later  on, 
some  of  their  mariners  were  among  the  first  to  reach  the 
American  cod-banks ;  but,  in  the  period  that  now  concerns 
us,  we  have  very  little  to  record,  beyond  a  fishing  charter 
of  St.  Ferdinand  in  1237,  and  the  fact  that  these  seamen 
aided  in  the  capture  of  Seville  in  1247,  blockading  the 
G-uadalquivir  with  a  flotilla  of  their  boats. 

But  in  Seville  itself,  Ferdinand  III.,  from  1249  onwards, 
made  serious  attempts  to  create  a  Castilian  Admiralty  and 
a  genuine  commercial  interest.  Many  Pisan,  Catalan,  and 
Genoese  traders  were  induced  by  special  privileges  to  settle 
there,  and  every  effort  was  put  forth  to  maintain  and 
increase  the  old  commerce  of  the  city,  which  had  been  so 
active  under  the  Moors.  Regulations  were  framed,  an 
admiral  of  Castile  was  stationed  in  the  port,  privileges  of 
various  kinds  were  granted  to  enterprising  merchants ;  but 
the  incomplete  subjection  of  Andalils,  and  the  long  wars 
which  still  had  to  run  their  course  in  Southern  Spain, 
hindered  the  development  of  Seville.  For  the  town  was  too 
near  the  scenes  of  conflict  and  danger,  and  suffered  from  its 
position,  not  on  the  sea  itself,  but  on  a  river-channel,  at  a 
considerable  distance  from  the  Main,  and  always  liable  to  be 


438  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

blocked  by  an  enemy.  It  was  not,  moreover,  till  the  follow- 
ing century  that  the  growth  of  discovery  and  enterprise 
developed  trade  beyond  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar;  and  so 
opened  to  Seville  a  field  for  which  nature  had  fitted  it,  lying 
as  it  did  upon  an  oceanic  stream.  Before  this  its  prosperity 
was  too  dependent  on  Catalan  and  Genoese  middlemen  to 
have  an  independent  character  of  any  value. 

In  that  part  of  Western  Spain,  otherwise  known  as  the 
county  and  kingdom  of  Portugal,  commercial  development, 
oversea  enterprise,  the  spirit  of  adventure,  the  search  for 
distant  treasure,  does  not  show  much  activity  before  the  close 
of  the  Crusading  Age.  Yet  even  in  the  thirteenth  century 
a  certain  trade  with  Flanders  and  the  north  and  wTest  of 
France  had  already  begun,  and  the  more  distant  Hanseatic 1 
markets  may  have  communicated  with  Lisbon  and  Oporto 
(as  with  Venice  and  Genoa)  through  the  factories  of  London 
and  Bruges. 

The  Crusading  States  of  the  Levant  formed  an  advanced 
base  for  Western  commerce  and  trade,  as  well  as  for  "Western 
politics  and  concpuest.  The  former  was,  indeed,  not  inseparable 
from  the  latter ;  and  after  the  '  Latin  '  Kingdoms  had  already 
fallen  into  decay,  '  Latin  '  and  '  Frankish  '  enterprise  in  trade 
and  travel  continued  very  active,  reaching  further  into  the 
Asiatic  world  than  ever  before  ;  but  with  the  complete  extinc- 
tion of  the  principalities  of  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Edessa,  and 
Tripoli,  the  old  difficulty  of  a  hostile  and  almost  impenetrable 
Islam  once  more  confronted  the  European  nations  along  the 
coast  line  of  Syria.  The  effect  of  this  reaction,  an  effect 
also  of  the  discoveries  that  had  been  made  both  in  the 
Atlantic  and  in  Asia,  was  seen  in  the  fourteenth  century 
diversion  of  Christian  advance  from  land  to  sea.2 

1  Cf.    Sartorius,   Lappenberg,    Ges-    I       2  And  from  Western  Asia  to  "Western 
chichte  der  Hansa,  i.  271  :  ii.  80-90.      |   Africa. 


VI.]         WESTERN  COMMERCE   IN   UPPER  SYRIA,   ETC.       439 

The  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem,  in  the  narrower  sense,  was 
not  in  command  of  many  of  the  trade  centres  of  the  Levant, 
and  was  not  even  close  enough  to  the  first-class  Emporia  to 
influence  them  directly ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was 
master  of  all  the  land  routes  that  connected  Egypt  and 
Africa  with  Western  Asia.  '  Petra  in  the  desert,'  the 
Crusaders'  Kerak,  answering  to  the  ancient  Kir  Moab ; 
Montreal  or  Shaubek,  '  le  Crac  de  Montreal,'  corresponding 
to  the  Edomite  Petra;  and  Ailah  or  Elath,  at  the  head  of 
the  Elanitic  gulf  of  the  Eed  Sea,  controlled  the  ordinary 
pilgrim  and  caravan  routes  from  Damascus  to  Mecca,  the 
leading  commercial  roads  for  the  sea  -  borne  trade  of 
Western  Asia  with  the  South  and  East.  The  Mediterranean 
coast  route  between  Cairo  and  Damascus,  passing  through 
Ascalon,  was  also  at  the  mercy  of  the  Crusaders  of  Jeru- 
salem ;  while  their  brethren  at  Edessa,  Antioch,  and  Tripoli, 
possessing  the  whole  coast  of  Phoenicia  and  the  gulf  of  Issus, 
interrupted  all  the  main  lines  of  communication  between 
the  central  body  of  Asiatic  Islam  and  the  Mediterranean 
Sea.  Bagdad  could  only  reach  Cairo,  the  sacred  region  of 
the  Arabian  Haj,  or  the  lands  of  the  Western  Moslems 
(in  Spain,  North  Africa,  or  the  islands),  by  an  immense 
circuit,  or  by  risking  a  passage  over  Crusading  territory. 
It  was  significant  that  the  crisis  of  1187-88  arose  from  the 
attack  of  the  Castellan  of  Kerak  on  a  Saracen  caravan,  and 
the  determination  of  Saladin,  as  ruler  of  Egypt,  to  break 
through  the  cordon  from  Elath  to  the  Anion,  from  the  Eed 
to  the  Dead  Sea. 

While  the  European  dominion  lasted,  the  iiax  of  Egypt, 
the  musk  and  rhubarb  of  Tibet,  the  pepper,  cloves,  aloes, 
and  camphor  of  the  Indies,  the  ivory  of  Africa  and 
Hindustan,   the   incense   and   dates  of    Arabia,  paid   transit 


440  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Ch. 

dues  for  their  passage  through  the  Crusaders'  country,1  and 
the  chief  ports  of  this  country  did  a  considerable  trade  in 
these  precious  wares.  Acre,  Tyre,  Beyrout,  Laodicea,  and 
Jaffa  were  the  principal  harbours  in  Latin  hands  on  the 
Levant  coasts ;  then  came  Caesarea,  Ascalon,  and  Haifa 
under  Mount  Carmel  ;  Tiberias,  as  an  inland  lake  port, 
was  also  of  some  importance ;  in  all  of  these  the  Chris- 
tian merchants  seem  to  have  been  served  with  Oriental 
products  by  Saracen  dealers.  The  fruits,  cottons,  silk, 
pottery,  and  glass  of  Syria  were  all  worth  export,  and  could 
be  obtained  without  the  aid  of  middlemen  in  the  country 
mastered  by  the  Crusaders.  Thus,  John  of  Salisbury 2  has 
a  tale  of  a  rich  citizen  of  Canoesa  who  provided  his 
banquets  with  delicacies  from  Palestine  and  Tripoli.  The 
more  daring  Western  traders  even  went  up  country  to  seek 
their  fortune  in  the  great  Mohammedan  markets.  It  is 
curious  that  the  Princes  of  Antioch, — though  possessing  such 
an  excellent  commercial  situation,  lying  close  to  Aleppo 
and  Hamath  (just  as  the  Counts  of  Tripoli  lay  close  to 
Damascus  and  Hems),  and  commanding  some  of  the  most 
frequented  trade-routes, — did  not  exert  themselves  more 
actively  to  promote  commercial  interests ;  their  charters  to 
trading  cities,  corporations,  or  individuals  are  few  and  far 
between ;  and  one  famous  exception,  the  invitation  to  the 
Genoese  issued  by  Bohemund  III.  in  1169,  seems  to  imply 
in  various  expressions  a  past  condition  of  improvident 
neglect.  The  fall  of  Acre  into  Saladin's  hands,  though  it 
did  not  destroy  Western  commerce  on  this  shore,  greatly 
impaired  the  free  and  favourable  meeting  of  Eastern  and 
Western  trade ;  and,  after  its  recovery,  the  port  of  St.  John 

1  As   appears   from  the  Assizes   of  I    Heyd,   Commerce  du  Levant,  i.   178- 
Jerusalem.  179. 

2  De  Nuyis  carialium,  viii.  7.     Of. 


VI.]  CHIEF    SYRIAN    MARKETS  441 

was  more  highly  valued  and  more  carefully  guarded  than 
before,  especially  by  the  regular  organisation  of  European 
colonies,  both  mercantile  and  military  in  character. 

The  Moslem  Hinterland  to  the  Crusading  Syria  possessed 
four  chief  markets — Aleppo,  Damascus,  Hems  or  Emesa,  and 
Hamath,1  behind  which  lay  the  still  greater  mart  of  Bagdad 
and  the  lesser  Emporia  of  Mosul  and  Bassora  or  Basra, 
covering  the  line  of  the  Tigris.  Aleppo  was  a  head  centre 
of  the  trade-route  from  the  Abbasside  Caliph's  '  metropolis ' 
to  Antioch  and  Laodicea  on  the  Western  Sea.  This  route 
(which  crossed  the  Euphrates  at  Rakka)  Edrisi  calls  the 
grand  avenue  of  the  trade  of  Irak,  Persia,  and  Khorasan ; 
and  the  silk  market  of  Aleppo  proved  its  connection  with 
the  still  more  distant  countries  of  the  Far  East.  Even  at 
the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  many  Arenetian  traders 
were  resident  here  for  the  sake  of  the  commerce  in  Seric 
goods,  as  well  as  in  alum :  the  pigments  and  pepper 
found  at  Antioch  by  the  Crusaders,  on  the  capture  of 
that  city,  also  bore  witness  to  an  Indian  commerce  with 
the  Mediterranean  by  this  path  ;  and  the  elder  Sanuto  is 
probably  right  when  he  says  (at  the  beginning  of  the  four- 
teenth century)  that  in  old  time  most  Oriental  goods  passed 
along  this  way  to  the  Roman  Sea.2  Antioch,  though  not 
itself  on  the  open  coast,  communicated  directly  with  the 
latter  by  its  harbour  of  Sueidieh3  or  St.  Simeon;  while 
Laodicea,4  not  yet  superseded  by  Alexandretta,  was  among 
the  best  of  Levantine  havens  ;  the  smaller  port  of  Gibel  to  the 
south,  where  the  Genoese  had  planted  themselves  in  force, 

1  To  which  may  be  added  Bostra.  Sanuto,    Secreta  Fidelium  cruris,   p. 

2  Cf.  Ibn  Butlan  (d.  1052)  in  Yakut ;       22. 

Wiistenfeld,  Zeitschrift  deutsch.  mo?--  3  St.    Simeon    of    the    Crusaders  ; 

genlajiclisch.      Gescllschaft,     iv.     50  ;  Sevodi   of  the   Armenians ;    Sudi  or 

Kremer,      Wien.      Sitzungs-Bcriclite,  Suction  of  the  Greeks, 
ph.-h.    kl.,    April,    1850.    239,    243;  i  Latakiyeh. 


442  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

gave  another  outlet  of  minor  importance  for  this  commerce. 
The  trade  of  Latakiyeh  with  Alexandria  on  the  one  side,  and 
with  Aleppo  on  the  other,  reaching  beyond  to  the  Eed  Sea 
and  the  Euphrates,  brought  many  Christian  merchants  to  its 
market,  especially  for  spice,  in  which  trade  the  Venetians 
took  the  largest  share. 

From  Aleppo  a  route,  which  was  often  followed  by  a 
large  amount  of  trade,  ran  to  Damascus  through  Hems  and 
Hamath,  from  North  to  Central  Syria  ;  at  Emesa  it  was  crossed 
by  another  path  of  traffic,  from  east  to  west,  descending  to 
Tortosa  and  Tripoli.  These  cities  served  as  the  harbours  for 
all  this  region,  the  upper  part  of  the  older  Coele-Syria  ;  Tripoli, 
in  particular,  was  very  prominent,  and  the  resort  of  many 
Armenian,  Jewish,  and  Nestorian  merchants  ;  while  the  little 
port  of  Gibelet 1  or  Byblus,  lower  down  the  coast,  was  notable 
as  a  point  eagerly  competed  for  by  Western  traders. 

Damascus,  then  as  always,  occupied  the  position  of  a  first- 
class  market ;  no  revolutions,  sieges,  sacks,  or  other  disasters, 
could  permanently  affect  the  prosperity  of  the  oasis,  so 
plainly  marked  out  by  Nature  as  among  her  favourite  spots 
of  earth.  Here  was  the  starting-point,  in  Moslem  times,  of 
the  Syrian  Haj,  of  the  pilgrim  and  trade-route  to  Mecca  and 
Western  and  Southern  Arabia ;  here,  also,  was  the  meeting- 
place  of  caravan  roads  from  Mesopotamia,  from  Asia  Minor, 
from  Persia  and  Central  Asia,  and  from  the  Mediterranean 
coasts.  It  had  direct  intercourse  with  the  ports  of  the 
Persian  Gulf,  with  Bagdad,  and  the  other  markets  of  the 
Tigris  and  Euphrates ;  its  relations  with  Egypt,  though 
necessarily  more  indirect,  were  still  maintained  during  the 
Crusading  period.  For,  however  risky  the  passage,  or 
however  great  the  deviation,  Damascus  goods  enjoyed  so 
high  a  name  in  all  the  lands  of  Islam  and  among  all  the 
1  Cf.  Edrisi,  i.  356-359;  ii.  130.137. 


Vf.j        TKADE  OF  ALEPPO,  DAMASCUS,  BAGDAD,  ETC.      443 

merchants  of  Christendom,  that  the  most  savage  wars  did 
not  wholly  prevent  their"  circulation. 

To  the  south-east  of  Damascus,  Bostra  in  the  Haurau, 
Ituraea,  or  Argob  (the  wild,  hilly  country  beyond  the 
Middle  Jordan),  had  been  an  inland  market  of  no  small 
consequence,  but  it  had  now  decayed,  and  the  ancient 
and  celebrated  Fair  of  Meidan  or  Muzerib  was  not  fre- 
quented as  in  old  time ; :  even  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
however,  European  traders  occasionally  appeared  at  it  (to 
say  nothing  of  Saracens,  from  parts  as  distant  as  Irak) ; 
during  the  brief  time  when  the  region  formed  part  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Jerusalem,  it  would  naturally  be  accessible  to 
Christian  merchants.  In  any  case,  it  was  well  known 
under  the  names  of  Sutar  or  Suidc "  to  the  Crusading 
warriors,  who  made  frequent  raids  into  this  country  ;  and 
through  it  passed  the  great  trade-route  between  Damascus, 
Arabia,  and  the  Ked  Sea. 

But  all  these  towns,  even  Damascus,  must  be  ranked 
below  Bagdad  in  the  commercial  as  well  as  the  political 
sense.  Until  the  fall  of  the  Caliphate  in  1258  the  Abode 
of  Peace  retained  that  primacy  of  wealth,  population,  traffic, 
and  honour  which  Benjamin  of  Tudela  witnessed,  and  which 
after  its  fall  passed  in  a  measure  from  Southern  to  Northern 
Persia,  from  Bagdad  to  Tabriz.  Among  all  the  cities 
of  Western  Asia  it  was  supreme ;  Cairo,  Constantinople, 
Alexandria,  and  Cordova  were  probably  its  nearest  rivals 
outside  China.  Upon  it  converged  most  of  the  great 
commercial  routes  of  Asia  ;  those  which  ran  up  and  down 
the  Tigris, — to    Bassora    and    the   Persian   Gulf,  and    so    to 

J  Cf.  Edrisi,  i.  352-353.     The  com-  |  Mecca,  April,  1503  ;  see  pp.  16-18  of 

uiencement  of  its  decay  may  be  put  !  the    Hakhiyt    Society's    Edition    of 

in  the  later  twelfth  century.    Through  Varthema. 

here     (' Mezeribe,'    as    he    calls    it),  I  2  Arabic  SHwet. 

\Tarthema    passed    on     his    way    to  I 


444 


COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


Southern  and  Eastern  Asia,  on  one  side, — to  Mosul,  Amida,1 
Tabriz,  and  Armenia,  on  the  other  ;  those  also  which  passed 
through  Irak  (by  canal 2  or  caravan)  to  the  Euphrates,  Bakka, 
and  the  Western  Asiatic  coast  lands  ;  those,  finally,  which 
crossed  Persia,  Afghanistan,  and  Central  Asia  to  India  and 
China.  In  Khotan  and  Ferghanah  the  merchants  of  Bagdad 
obtained  the  musk  and  rhubarb  of  Tibet  ;  in  Kabul  and 
Ghazni  they  met  the  dealers  of  Hindustan  ;  their  still  more 
distant  journeys  to  the  Celestial  Kingdom  were  usually  by 
sea  to  the  port  of  Khan-fu  ; 3  if  they  chose  the  land-way 
they  skirted  the  Takla-Makan  desert  either  to  the  north 
or  south,  either  by  Khotan  or  by  Kulja.4 

West  of  Eakka  one  of  the  principal  lines  of  commerce 
ran  north-west  through  the  Latin  county  of  Edessa;5  but  in 
the  fifty  years  of  Crusading  occupation  there  is  no  evidence 
of  Western  traffic  in  this  region,  and  all  the  trade  appears  to 
remain  in  the  hands  of  indigenous  Armenians  ;  perhaps  this 
outpost  of  the  Crusaders  was  in  too  dangerous  a  plight,  and 
too  often  harassed  by  enemies,  for  the  development  of  much 
peaceful  activity. 

There  is  but  little  positive  evidence  for  the  plausible 
belief  that  Venetian  and  other  Christian  merchants,  before 


1  Diarbekr. 

2  E.g.  the  Nahr-Issa  (Tigris-Eu- 
phrates Canal).  Cf.  Edrisi,  i.  492, 
etc.  ;  ii.  136,  144,  153,  214,  etc.  ; 
Richthofen,  China,  i.  502,  etc.,  'an 
indispensable  commentary.'  Also  M. 
Polo.  ed.  Pauthier,  p.  45,  etc.  Polo's 
remarks  about  Bagdad  trade  are 
notable ;  they  show  that  even  the 
events  of  1258  did  not  kill  it ;  in  the 
fourteenth  century  -wares  from  China, 
Yemen,  India,  and  the  Zanzibar  coast 
are  said  to  appear  at  the  Bagdad 
market  once  more. 

y  Answering  to  the  modern  Hang- 


cheu-fu. 

4  Cf.  Heyd,  Commerce,  ii.  222,  223, 
etc.  The  routes  south  of  the  Thian 
Shan  Mountains  went  from  Khotan 
along  the  valley  of  the  Tarim  and  so 
to  Turfan,  Khamil,  and  the  end  of  the 
Great  Wall.  One  path  skirted  Lob 
Nor ;  another  avoided  this  lake  and 
passed  by  Aksu  and  Karashar.  The 
latter  was  followed  by  Hiouen  Thsang, 
and  Shah  Rokh's  envoys  in  1420,  as 
well  as  by  Haji  Mohammed,  the 
Persian  rhubarb  merchant  of  the 
sixteenth  century. 

5  1098-1144. 


VI.]       CHRISTIAN  MERCHANTS  IN  UPPER  SYRIA,  ETC.      445 


the  time  of  Marco  Polo,  made  their  way  into  the  Euphrates 
region,  and  even  beyond,  to  Mosul  and  Bagdad  ;  yet  Aleppo 
and  Damascus  they  certainly  visited  ;  and  a  claim  was  made 
in  the  fourteenth  century  for  Provencal  enterprise  at  Bakka 
in  the  twelfth.  Bearing  in  mind  how  individual  Venetians, 
in  the  days  of  the  Latin  Empire  at  Constantinople,  penetrated 
into  the  very  heart  of  Asia  Minor  and  into  Northern  Persia 
(where  Pietro  Vioni  was  residing  in  1264),  we  can  hardly 
reject 1  as  impossible  the  suggestion  of  a  less  daring,  ex- 
tensive, and  hazardous  enterprise  on  their  part  in  Northern 
Syria  and  Mesopotamia,  under  the  most  powerful  of  the 
Kings  and  Counts  of  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Tripoli,  or 
Edessa.  At  any  rate,  it  would  seem  that  the  conquests 
of  G-henghiz  Khan  were  first  described  to  Christendom  by 
the  '  people  of  Count  Eaymond  '  on  their  return  to  Tripoli 
from  various  trading  journeys  in  the  upland,  and  especially 
by  some  merchants  whose  trade  lay  in  spices  and  precious 
stones.  It  is  also  clear  that  about  1200  the  Pisans  were 
doing  an  active  business  at  Aleppo,  and  it  is  probable  that, 
by  the  douane-station  of  the  '  Pons  Ferri,' 2  over  the  Orontes, 
they  had  already  advanced  still  further  inland. 

These  Syrian  principalities  were  the  chief  examples  of 
the  Crusading  polity  in  the  Levant,  and  (as  we  have  seen)  they 
afforded  excellent  outworks  and  advanced  posts  for  Latin 
movement  still  further  into  Asia  ;  but  they  were  not  the  only 
fortresses  gained  by  the  inrush  of  West  upon  East,  from 
which  new  movements  of  war  and  commerce  took  their  start. 
Syria  was  a  meeting-place  for  most  kinds  of  Oriental  goods, 
but  Constantinople  was  no  less  a  world-emporium,  and  the 


1  Heyd,  however,  refuses  to  accept 
it,  though  lie  gives.  Commerce,  ii.  110, 
the  case  of  Pietro  Vioni's  (Viglioni's) 
will,  made  at  Tabriz,  10th  December, 
1264. 


-  This  would  not  necessarily  take 
them  beyond  Aleppo,  but  it  points 
to  a  further  advance.  Anyhow,  they 
crossed  the  '  Pons  Ferri '  and  paid  dues 
at  this  point. 


446 


COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL 


[Oh. 


revolution  of  1204  gave  a  practical  monopoly  herein  to  the 
Venetians.  From  this  point  of  vantage  they  started  afresh, 
and  pushed  on  to  exploit  the  wilder  regions  east  and  north 
of  the  Bosphorus.  Thus  John  de  Piano  Carpini,  returning 
in  June,  1247,  from  the  Tartar  Court,  met  with  several  of 
his  countrymen  trading  at  Kiev,  and  among  them  a  Venetian 
named  Manuel,  and  two  other  merchants,  both  probably  of 
the  same  city,  Jacobus  Venerius  or  Eeverius1  'of  Acre,'  and 
Nicolaus  Pisanus.2  Had  Friar  John  touched  at  the  famous 
ports  of  Eosia  and  Matracha  on  the  north-east  littoral  of  the 
Euxine,  he  would  have  found  there  also  a  number  of  the  men 
of  St.  Mark,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  Taman  peninsula,  at 
Sudak  or  Soldaia  in  the  Crimea,  and  at  Trebizond  and  Sinope. 
The  ancient  and  important  trade-route  which  crossed  the 
Caucasian  isthmus  to  the  south  of  the  great  range  led 
down,3  by  the  valley  of  the  Eion  or  Phasis,  to  the  Black 
Sea ;  but  it  threw  off  a  branch  which  traversed  the 
Armenian  plateau  and  united  at  Sivas  or  Sebaste  in 
Cappadocia  with  several  other  avenues  of  commerce,  from 
East,  North,  South  and  West,  from  Mesopotamia  and 
Persia,  from  Syria  and  Little  Armenia,  and  from  Sinope, 
Nicaea,  and  Iconium.  After  1214  Sinope  was  dependent  on 
the  Seljuk  Sultans  of  Rum,  who  attached  a  high  value  to 
their  window  on  the  open  sea ;  through  Sudak  it  had 
intercourse  with  the  north  coast  of  the  Pontus  and  the 
Kipchak  lands ;  and  the  rulers  of  Iconium  encouraged  this 
commerce  to  the  utmost,  even  undertaking  expeditions  (as 


1  Venerius,  Heyd  suggests,  Com- 
merce du  Levant,  i.  319,  refers  to 
Giacomo,  a  member  of  the  great  house 
of  Venier  which  had  a  branch  at  Acre ; 
the  Pisanus  here  named  was  probably 
a  member  of  the  Venetian  house  of 
Pisani. 

-  Resides  one    Michael   of  Genoa, 


from  the  great  rival  port.  All  these 
Italian  traders  at  Kiev  had  come 
direct  from  Constantinople.  Cf.  the 
text  of  Carpini  in  the  Paris  Geo- 
graphical Society's  Recueil,  iv.  p.  772. 
3  After  ascending  from  the  Caspian 
shore  to  the  watershed  near  Tirlis.  by 
the  valley  of  the  Kur. 


VI. J  CHRISTIAN  TRADERS  IN  'TURKEY,'  'RUSSIA,'  ETC.   447 

iii  1227  1  to  the  Crimea)  to  chastise  outrages  upon  their 
subjects. 

It  must  remain  uncertain  whether  the  Turkish,  Seljuk, 
or  '  Rumi '  ports  in  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Mediterranean 
were  open  to  "Western  trade  during  the  time  of  Latin 
domination  at  Constantinople  ;  but  there  is  abundant 
evidence  for  the  visits  of  Italian  merchants  to  the  kingdom 
of  Iconium,  for  their  successful  enterprises  in  the  same, 
and  for  the  commercial  understanding  between  the  Sultans 
of  Rum  and  the  Republics  of  Venice  and  Pisa.  In  1219, 
Venetian  traders  are  recorded  at  Lampsacus,  and  a  few 
years  later  in  '  Turkey  '  or  Turlinema2  itself:  the  commercial 
rights  of  the  Western  visitors  are  guaranteed  by  treaties 
of  1210,  1215,  and  1220.  The  Provencals  seem  to  have 
also  gained  access  to  Turkey  by  means  of  a  harbour  on  the 
south  coast  of  Asia  Minor  ;  this  town,  lying  '  opposite ' 
Cyprus,  was  known  in  the  West  by  the  names  of  Lo  Proensal, 
Prodenmlium,  or  Port  of  the  Provencals ;  and  some  account 
must  also  be  taken  of  Satalia,  a  haven  which  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  Greeks  till  1204,  was  then  seized  by  the 
Aldobrandini,  and  finally  passed  under  Seljuk  rule  in  1207. 

For  pushing  their  commerce  in  the  upland  of  Asia 
Minor  the  Latins  found  some  assistance  (and  perhaps 
equal  hindrance)  from  the  Greeks  and  Armenians  who 
still  lived  there,  not  yet  overwhelmed  and  extinguished, 
though  already  surrounded  and  oppressed,  by  the  Turkish 
majority.  These  Eastern  Christians  were  keen  traders, 
and  took  especial  interest  in  the  export  of  alum ;  but  when 
Rubruquis  passed  through  Iconium  in  1255  this  trade  was 
mainly  controlled  by  the  newcomers  from  the  West;  in 
particular,  a  '  long  firm '  of  strange  constitution,  under  a 
Genoese  and  a  Venetian,  Nicolas  de.  Santo  Siro  of  Acre,  and 
1  Under  Alaeddin  Kai'kobad.  '-'  The  Seljuk  dominions, 


448  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

Boniface  of  Molendino,1  had  monopolised  all  the  alum  in 
'  Turkey,'  binding  the  Sultan  to  sell  only  to  them,  and  raising 
the  price  from  fifteen  bezants  to  fifty. 

Politically,  the  Venetians  were  the  most  deadly  enemies 
of  the  Greek  empires  of  Nicaea  and  Trebizond,  the  relics  of 
the  great  dominion  they  had  shattered  in  1204;  but  even 
with  these  states  the  indefatigable  merchants  of  the  Adriatic 
contrived  to  do  some  business  as  early  as  1219.  Here, 
however,  they  were  naturally  at  a  disadvantage,  and  the 
traders  of  Genoa  and  Lucca  appear  at  Nice,  from  about 
1230,  with  no  indistinct  foreshadowing  of  the  future  alliance, 
which  was  to  expel  the  Latins  from  Constantinople.  This 
alliance  took  shape  about  1239 ;  the  Bulgarians  joined  hands 
with  their  Orthodox  brethren  against  the  heretical  Franks ; 
and  the  Genoese  loss  of  Rhodes  in  1250,  after  a  bare  two 
years  of  possession,  added  fuel  to  the  flame  of  their  hatred 
against  the  intruding  masters  of  the  Archipelago  and  the 
Bosphorus. 

The  kingdom  of  Trebizond,2  like  those  of  Nicaea  and  the 
Lesser  Armenia,  was  a  '  gate '  of  trade  for  East  and  West 
alike— of  exit  for  Oriental,  of  entrance  for  European,  pro- 
ducts and  dealers.  Long  before  the  revolution  of  1204 
Trebizond,  as  a  frontier  city  of  the  Byzantines,  had  been  a 
meeting-place  of  traffic  from  many  quarters;3  and  as  a 
Euxine  port  its  commerce  with  the  north  and  east  coasts  of 
the  Pontus  was  ancient  and  respectable.  The  Mongol  de- 
struction of  Bagdad  gave  a  new  opportunity  to  its  enterprise, 


1  Cf.  Heyd,  Commerce  du  Levant, 
i.  302,  and  note,  where  '  Molendino ' 
is  explained  as  referring  to  the 
Venetian  family  of  Molino,  and  the 
Boniface  in  question  is  identified  con- 
jecturally  with  a  eondottiere  in  the 
service  of  the  Sultan  of  Iconium, 
1242-1243;  cf.   Sanuto,  Secreta  Fide- 


Mum  Cruris,  p.  235,  etc. 

2  Formed  as  an  independent  state, 
after  the  overthrow  of  Constantinople 
in  1 204,  by  a  branch  of  the  Comnenian 
family. 

3  As  noticed  by  Masudi,  Al 
Istakhri.  and  Ibn  Haukal, 


VI.]  CHRISTIAN    TRADERS    IN    THE    BLACK    SEA  449 

as  the  desolated  trade-routes  of  the  South  yielded  for  a  time 
to  their  Northern  rivals  ;  and  the  restoration  of  Greek  rule 
at  Constantinople  put  it  once  more  in  unimpeded  com- 
munication with  the  West.1  In  1266  two  Massiliot  traders 
arrived  at  Trebizond  with  letters  to  the  Emperor  from 
Charles  of  Anjou,  Count  of  Provence  ;  with  the  aid  of  the 
Comnenian  Government  these  envoys  hoped  to  reach  the 
Grand  Khan  of  the  Mongols,  and  deliver  to  him  the  letters 
of  their  Lord  ;  but  we  do  not  know  that  they  ever  penetrated 
into  Tartary.  If  so,  they  probably  followed  the  North  Persian 
trade-route,  which  came  into  fashion  mi  the  advent  of  the 
Mongols,  from  Trebizond  to  Erzinghian,  Erzerum,  Lake  Van, 
and  Tabriz,2  and  thence  along  the  south  coast  of  the  Caspian 
to  Bokhara  and  Samarcand. 

As  to  the  other  commercial  tracks  of  Asia  Minor,  the 
most  famous  and  popular  led  from  south-east  to  north-west, 
and  from  north-east  to  south-west, — from  Antioch  through 
Little  Armenia3  to  Iconium,  Nicaea,  and  Constantinople, 
or  from  the  Caucasus  and  the  Armenian  Plateau  through 
Sivas  and  Kaisarieh4  to  Ivonieh5  and  the  sea  ports  of 
Lycia  or  Cilicia  ;  along  the  latter  Friar  William  of  Kubruck 
journeyed  on  his  return  from  the  Mongol  Courts  on  the 
Orkhon  and  the  Volga. 

But  the  conquering  Venetians  of  the  thirteenth  century 
(and  other  Latins  in  their  train)  did  not  only  push  their 
traffic  into  the  centre  of  Anatolia  from  their  new  base  at 
Constantinople;  they  also  advanced,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the 
North  Euxine  coast,   to  the   mouths    of   the   Dniepr,  Don, 


1  The  merchants  of  Trebizond, 
however,  only  nndertook  '  petty ' 
commerce,  leaving  higher  things  to 
Western  visitors. 

2  This  was  afterwards  traversed  by  5  Iconium. 
Clavijo,  on  his  way  to  the  Court  of  ! 

2    F 


Timur,  pp.   64,  69,   78,  S9,  etc.,  of 
Hakluyt  Society's  edition. 

3  Cilicia  and  the  Taurus. 

4  Sebaste  and  Caesarea. 


450  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

Kuban,  and  Volga,  eastward  to  the  shores  of  the  Caspian, 
northward  to  the  Eussian  and  Finnish  lands  above  the 
steppes  of  the  Kipchak  or  Komans.  As  early  as  the  twelfth 
century,  the  Eussian  Song  of  Igor  boasts  that  the  glory  of  the 
hero  Sviatoslav  had  reached  Venetians  as  well  as  Greeks ; 
in  the  thirteenth,  Carpini  and  Eubruquis  found  the  Western 
traders  active  at  Kiev  and  throughout  the  Crimea.  It 
would  seem  that  the  vague  suzerainty  of  the  Byzantine 
Emperors  over  the  North  Euxine  littoral,1  marked  by 
fortresses  in  the  more  vigorous  times  of  Justinian,  had 
been  reduced  to  vanishing  point  by  the  Komans,  under 
whose  rule  Latin  trade  soon  gained  a  share  in  the 
export  fur-trade  hitherto  absorbed  by  Saracen  dealers. 
The  Koman  rule  was  replaced  by  that  of  the  Mongols 
in  the  second  quarter  of  the  thirteenth  century  (1223- 
1239)  ;  but  this  change  of  masters  did  not  destroy  Western 
commerce  ;  and  the  chief  port  of  Komania — Sudak  or  Soldaia, 
near  the  still  more  famous  Kaffa,2 — retained  its  shipping, 
its  old  administration,  and  its  Greek  bishop,  paying  a 
moderate  tribute;  and  sheltering  a  busy  population  of  many 
nationalities,  among  which  Goths  or  Germans  are  noticed 
by  Eubruquis.  Under  Manuel  Comnenus,  as  in  earlier 
times,  Eosia  and  Matracha.  Kherson  and  Tanais,3  had  con- 


1  None  of  these  regions  are  men- 
tioned by  the  Fraukish  and  Venetian 
spoilers  of  the  Eastern  Empire  in  the 
1204  treaty  of  partition  ;  some  are 
found  later  to  be  nominal  possessions 
of  the  Trebizond  emperors.  At  Alusta 
and  Ursuf  Justinian's  Crimean  for- 
tresses still  stand  in  good  repair. 


Paris  Recueil. 

3  Sevastopol  and  Azov.  This  last 
was  a  very  ancient  town,  cf.  Strabo, 
xi.  2,  423  ;  Tana  (not  on  the  same 
site)  was  probably  a  foundation  of 
the  later  thirteenth  century  ;  there 
is  no  clear  trace  of  it  earlier,  as  in 
Eubruquis  ;  but  the  name  occurs  on 


2  OrTheodosia.  Soldaia  is  otherwise  some   of  the  earliest  portolani  {e.g. 

called    Sugdaia,    Sodaia,    Soldachia,  j  that  of  Pietro  Vesconte),  of.  c.  1309- 

Soltadia,    Scholtadia,    and    Sudagh.  j  1310.      It   was  eighteen  miles  from 

From  its  numerous  Goths  the  whole  the  mouth  of  the  Don,  and  on  the 

region  was  sometimes  called  Gothia ;  j  east  side  of  the  river,  according  to 

cf.  Rubruquis,  p.  219,  vol.  iv.  of  the  j  Bembo, 


VI.]  CHRISTIAN    TRADERS    IN    THE    BLACK    SEA  451 

trolled  the  trade  of  this  coast;  later,  as  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  Tana  and  Kaffa  were  supreme  ;  and  Ibn  Batuta 
(c.  a.d.  1334),  while  praising  the  port  of  Sudak  as  'one  of 
the  finest'  known,  admits  that  the  city,  though  'formerly 
very  large,'  had  been  mostly  destroyed  in  wars  between  the 
Greeks  and  Turks.1  It  was  still  apparently  at  the  height 
of  its  prosperity  when  Nicolo  and  Maffio  Polo,2  on  their  way 
to  sell  their  jewels  at  the  Court  of  the  Khan  Berke,  landed 
on  the  Crimean  shores  (1260).  As  their  brother,  Marco  Polo 
the  Elder,  then  trading  at  Constantinople,  possessed  a  house 
of  business  in  Sudak,  and  as  no  other  port  in  the  neighbour- 
hood could  then  pretend  to  the  same  importance,  it  was 
probably  here  that  the  travellers  disembarked;  the  Polo 
property  in  Soldaia  was,  doubtless,  typical  of  a  numerous 
class  of  Italian  holdings  in  the  Euxine;  and  the  careful 
preservation  and  maintenance  of  the  same  was  also 
characteristic.  When  old  Marco  retired  from  Constanti- 
nople to  Venice  he  left  his  Crimean  house  or  houses  in 
the  charge  of  his  son  Nicolas  and  his  daughter  Marocca; 
by  his  will  of  1280  he  bequeathed  them  his  distant  estate ; 
in  the  same  manner  the  Genoese  retained  and  transmitted 
family  holdings  in  Kaffa  and  Matracha. 

The  latter  city,  in  the  Taman  peninsula,  near  the  Strait 
of  Kertch  and  on  a  branch  of  the  Kuban,3  was  the  political 
and  commercial  centre  of  a  large  district  covered  with 
villages.  It  had  a  port  of  fair  depth,  accessible  to  large 
vessels,  and   as  early   as   the   tenth   century  it  was  a  chief 


1  According  to  Abulfeda,  Chris- 
tianity had  been  displaced  by  Islam 
at  Sudak,  since  Ibn  Said  (1250- 
1274)  ;  in  other  words,  between  the 
time  of  Paibrurjiiis  and  his  own. 

2  Their  way  lay  through  Sarai  (to 
Bulgar  and  back,  up  and  down  the 


Caspian  to  Bokhara,  and  so  to  the 
Great  Wall  of  China,  which  they 
were  the  first  Europeans  to  cross. 
Their  way  back  brought  them  to 
Lajazzo.  We  leave  this  journey  to 
another  volume. 

3  The  Sakir,  according  to  Edrisi, 


Volga)   along  the  west  coast  of  the    '    ii,  4.00, 


452 


COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


town  of  the  Khazars,  well-known  to  the  Imperial  author 1 
of  the  tract  on  the  Administration  of  the  Byzantine  Eealm. 
In  966  it  was  captured  (according  to  a  somewhat  dubious 
tradition)  by  Eussian  raiders,  led  by  Prince  Sviatoslav,  and 
became  part  of  the  Slavonic  principality  of  Tmutorchan, 
which  disappears  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  twelfth  century. 
Edrisi,2  however,  knows  nothing  of  this  Russian  occupation, 
but  tells  us  that  the  people  of  Matracha  were  at  constant 
feud  with  those  of  Eusia  or  Eosia,  probably  the  celebrated 
town  of  that  name  on  the  Sea  of  Azov.  The  ruling  family  or 
families  in  Matrica  during  the  thirteenth  century  seem  to 
have  been  Greek  in  speech  and  Christian  in  religion  ;  many 
Greek  laity  and  clergy  were  settled  there  about  1230  ;  while 
merchants3  from  Constantinople  (among  whom  Venetians 
must  have  taken  the  leading  place)  traded  in  the  harbour, 
and  thence  crossed  the  Azov  Sea  in  light  boats  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Don,  where  good  purchases  of  fish  might  be 
had  (c,  a.d.  1250). 

In   the   days    of   Byzantine   power,  as   late   as   Manuel 
Comnenus,  the  Greek  commerce  with  these  regions  of  Eosia 


1  Constantine  VII.  (Porphyro- 
gennetos)  calls  it  Td  Mdrapxa  or  Ta- 
fidrapxa-  In  the  fifteenth  century 
'Matrica'  was  still  of  some  import- 
ance, and  was  held  for  a  time  by  the 
Genoese,  under  the  suzerainty  of  the 
neighbouring  Circassians. 

2  Edrisi,  ii.  400.  The  port  of  Eosia, 
probably  the  same  here  and  in  Manuel's 
treaty  with  the  Genoese  in  1169,  is 
mysterious  ;  Edrisi's  Map  marks  a 
Eosia  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  of 
the  same  name,  flowing  from  Mount 
Kokaia.  The  Strait  of  Kertch,  both 
in  Edrisi  and  Rubruquis,  is  con- 
sidered as  the  mouth  of  the  Don. 
Eosia  probably  stood  either  (1)  near 
the  site   of    Kertch,    Bosphorus,    or 


Vosporo  ;  or  (2)  on  the  other  side  of 
the  strait ;  or  (3)  at  the  true  mouth 
of  the  Don,  near  the  present  Azov. 
Possibly  it  is  another  name  for  the 
ancient  Tanais.  Between  Matracha, 
on  the  Taman  Bay,  and  Sudak, 
Edrisi  places  two  stations — (1)  Butra 
or  Bute?-;  (2)  another,  near  Matracha, 
adjoining  the  town  of  Rosia,  and 
much  in  the  position  of  the  modern 
Kertch  ;  perhaps  he  misunderstood 
a  map  he  was  copying  ;  cf.  the  Casal 
(or  Cassar)  dcgli  Eossi,  of  the  fifteenth 
century  portolani,  at  the  true  mouth 
of  the  Don  ;  and  see  Reinaud's 
Aboulfeda,  ii.  320  ;  Frahn's  Ibn 
Foslan,  pp.  31,  32. 
3  Rubruquis,  p.  215. 


vi.] 


CHIEF    PORTS    OF    THE    BLACK    SEA 


453 


and  Matracha,  was  highly  valued  by  the  princes  and  people 
of  Constantinople.  Here  was  one  reason  for  the  jealous 
exclusion  of  foreign  interlopers  (as  in  Manuel's  prohibition 
to  the  Genoese) ;  another  explanation  of  the  same  lay  in 
the  very  real  danger  that  the  Western  merchant  might  sell 
arms  to  the  natives  of  the  interior,  and  thus  equip  a  power- 
ful force  against  the  unwarlike  Greeks. 

Ivaffa, '  the  fort'1  of  Constantine  VII.,  the  Theodosia  of 
the  older  Greeks,  though  its  fame  was  of  later  time,  could 
boast  a  high  antiquity.  Originally  a  colony  of  the  Mile- 
sians, it  seems  to  have  been  re-built  by  one  of  the  Graeco- 
Scythian  kings  of  Bosphorus ;  at  the  opening  of  the  fourth 
century,  in  the  time  of  Constantine  the  Great,  it  marked 
the  frontier  between  the  dominions  of  these  princes  and  the 
'  Roman  '  territory  of  Kherson  or  Sevastopol.  As  a  natural 
harbour  it  was  only  surpassed  by  one  other  upon  this  coast,2 
and  it  was  directly  planted  upon  the  commercial  route  from 
the  Bosphorus  to  the  Volga  and  the  Don.  The  Genoese 
colony  may  have  been  founded  before  the  events  of  1204  ;3 
but  it  probably  resulted  from  the  Greek  restoration  of  1261, 
and  the  consequent  destruction  of  Venetian  ascendency  in 
the  Pontus.  Like  Sudak  and  the  rest  of  the  Crimea,  it  was 
treated  by  the  Mongols  as  an  immediate  possession  of  the 
House  of  Batu ;  thus  in  1265  the  fugitive  Sultan  of  Pium4 


1  6  KtMpas,  Constantino  Porphyro- 
gennetos,  De  Administrando  Imperio, 
552,  555,  Bonn  edition  ;  not  in 
Edrisi. 

2  The  long  neglected  inlet  of 
Sevastopol  itself. 

3  A  collar  is  still  shown  in  the 
Imperial  Treasuiy  at  Moscow,  which 
is  said  to  have  been  won  as  spolia 
opima  by  the  Grand  Prince  or  Duke 
Vladimir  Monomach  in  single  combat 
with  the  Genoese  Governor  of  Katla 


(c.  A.P.  1100).  The  Imperial  Am- 
bassador to  Moscow  in  1517  and 
1526,  Sigismund  von  Herberstein,  is 
the  first  writer  to  give  this  story,  in 
his  Rerum  Muscovitarum  Common- 
tarii  (i.  ]  6  in  edition  of  1841  by  Star- 
czewski) ;  the  Polish  Chronicler  and 
geographer  Strykowski,  also  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  corroborates  ;  but 
it  must  remain  at  present  very  doubt- 
ful ;  cf.  Heyd,  Commerce,  ii.  161. 
4  Or  Iconium. 


454 


COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL 


[ClT. 


was  given  an  asylum  in  Armenia  maritime/,  (as  it  was  often 
called  from  its  Armenian  settlers)  together  with  the  town  of 
Sudagh  as  a  fief.  The  first  clear  view  we  have  of  the  Genoese 
settlement  is  only  in  1316,  when  its  statutes  are  drawn  up  ; 
from  the  terms  of  the  concessions  given  and  withheld  by 
Manuel  Comnenus  in  1155  and  1169,  it  does  not  seem  likely 
that  the  Ligurians  were  then  established  either  at  Kaffa  or 
at  any  other  point  on  the  Northern  Euxine  littoral.  At  the 
most,  they  were  occasional  visitors. 

On  the  same  coast,  or  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood, 
the  towns  of  Solgat,  Porto  Pisano,  Sebastopolis,  and  Kherson 
figured  humbly  in  thirteenth-century  trade.  The  first 
of  these,  also  called  Krim,  was  in  later  time  the  residence 
of  the  Emirs  who  governed  the  Crimea  in  the  name  of  the 
Mongol  Khans  of  Sarai  ;  it  lay  a  few  miles  west  of  Kaffa, 
and  was  greatly  frequented,  especially  for  its  furs,  silks,  and 
spices,  by  the  merchants  of  that  port.  Porto  Pisano,  defined 
by  Pegolotti,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  as  the  first  harbour 
touched  at  after  quitting  Tana,  may  be  on  the  site  of  the 
present  Siniavka  ;  in  any  case  it  was  near  the  true  mouth 
of  the  Don;1  it  is  mentioned  by  a  portolano  of  1318  ;  and 
its  name,  which  sufficiently  indicates  its  origin,  is  to  be 
found  even  on  maps  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Sebastopolis, 
near  the  modern  Sukhum  Kale  in  the  Colchis  region,  on 
the  extreme  east  of  the  Pontus,  was  an  important  Byzantine 
fortress  under  Justinian  and  later  emperors ;  after  the 
collapse  of  Imperial  power  it  became  the  residence  of  a 
Georgian  prince  ;  its  name  occurs  in  some  of  the  earliest 
portolani ;  and  it  seems  to  have  been  visited  by  Western 
traders   from  about  1250.2     The  inquisitive   traders   of   the 


1  Pegolotti,  Pra/Mca  della  merea- 
tura,  p.  39  ;  Heyd,  Commerce  du 
Levant,  ii.  166-167. 


2  A   small   Latin  community  here 
is  noticed  in  1330. 


VI.] 


CHIEF    PORTS    OF    THE    BLACK    SEA 


455 


West  also  made  occasional  visits  to  the  best  of  all  the  North 
Euxine  harbours,  the  ancient  Kherson,  the  modern  Sevastopol, 
whose  various  names  have  caused  so  much  confusion,  whose 
site  was  famous  for  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Clement  of  Eome, 
but  whose  merits  as  a  port  were  never  realised  in  the  Middle 
Ages.1  They  were  left  for  Catherine  IT.  to  discover,  or  at 
least  to  proclaim  and  to  use ;  the  Genoese  might  have  made 
it  a  greater  Kaffa,  if  they  had  been  able  to  extend  their  in- 
fluence along  the  western  shore  of  the  Crimea ;  but  they 
never  seemed  to  have  gained  a  firm  position  beyond  Balaclava, 
and  their  dominion  was  confined  to  the  southern  coast  rim 
between  the  mountains  and  the  sea. 

The  mouth  of  the  Don,  whatever  the  port  might  be, 
which  at  one  time  or  another  commanded  the  estuary,  was 
the  starting-point  of  a  trade-route,  not  unimportant  during 
the  earlier  Middle  Ages,  but  brought  into  far  greater 
prominence  by  the  Mongol  victories  and  settlements.  Hence, 
through  Sarai  (or  later,  through  Astrakhan),  and  round  the 
north  coast  of  the  Caspian,  this  commercial  road  brought 
the  dealer  to  the  Aral  Sea,  the  Syr  and  Amu  Daria,  and  the 
rich  land  of  Khiva,  Khwarezm,  or  Urgenj,2  and  so  along  the 
course  of  the  Jaxartes  to  Otrar,  Ferghanah,  and  Almalig.3 
From  this  point  the  way  to  China  lay  through  the  pass  of 
the  Iron  Gates  in  the  Thian  Shan  and  brought  the  traveller 
to  Lake  Sairam,  Urumtsi,  Khamil,  and  the  western  extremity 


1  Jordanes  (Jornandes)  ascribes  its 
foundation  to  the  Greeks  of  Heraclea 
Pontica ;  its  livelihood  was  trade 
with  the  Scythians  ;  and  '  here  the 
greedy  trader  brought  the  rich  pro- 
duce of  Asia.'  The  Huns  (Hunuguri) 
supplied  this  market  with  furs  in 
Jordanes'  time  ;  but  it  never  could 
have  aspired  to  rival  Tana,  Kaffa,  or 
Matracha.     The  neighbouring  Bala- 


clava did  some  trade  in  the  fourteenth 
century.  Inkerman  is  apparently 
mentioned  in  an  inscription  of  1247 
as  '  Kalamita.' 

2  Also  called  Jorjan  and  Jorjaniah 
by  Arabs  and  Persians  ;  distinct  from 
the  other  Jorjan  to  the  south-east  of 
the  Caspian.  Otrar  was  probably  near 
Talas,  the  modern  Hazret-i-Turkestan. 

3  Or  Kulia. 


456 


COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


of  the  Great  Wall.1  Finally  the  merchant,2  passing  on  into 
the  Pacific  plain  of  Asia,  would  reach  his  goal  either  at 
Kinsai  or  Pekin,  where  his  purchases  would  be  mostly  of 
silks,  brocades,  gold-threaded  stuffs,  spices,  musk,  rhubarb,  and 
galangale ;  the  export  tea-trade  appears  to  belong  to  a  later 
age,  and  was  clearly  unknown  in  the  time  of  Marco  Polo.3 

A  South-Caucasus  and  trans-Caspian  route  to  the  Far 
East  was  also  in  use  between  the  Don  estuary  and  the  Lower 
Syr  and  Amu  Daria  by  way  of  Sukhum-Kale  or  Sebastopolis 
in  Colchis,  Derbent  at  the  Caspian  Gates,  Trestrego  near 
the  modern  Krasnovodsk,  and  Khiva  or  Khwarezm. 

Through  the  new  Christian  state  of  Little  Armenia4  on 
the  Gulf  of  Issus,  Western  trade  penetrated  into  the  Upland 
of  Asia  by  another  route.  The  kingdom  of  Eupen,  at  its 
greatest  extent,  under  King  Leo  II.  (1187-1219),  possessed 
the  south  coast  of  Asia  Minor  from  near  Satalia  to  Alex- 
andrfetta  and  even  beyond,  and  in  this  shore-line  were  several 
good  harbours,  notably  Palli,5  Lajazzo,  Corycus  or  Curco, 
Tarsus,    Adana,    and    Mamistra    or    Mopsuestia.      Several 


1  At  Sucheu  in  Kansu. 

2  Most  traders  followed  the  path 
along  the  north,  in  preference  to  the 
south,  of  the  Thian  Shan. 

3  For  he  never  mentions  it ;  Pauthier 
(M.  Polo,  p.  384,  note;  386),  thinks  he 
means  to  allude  to  the  tea-tree  in 
Assam  (Gaindu),  but  this  is  very- 
indistinct.  Of.  Heyd,  Commerce,  ii. 
231,  etc.,  252-253  ;  Yule,  31.  Polo, 
ii.  37,  etc. 

4  Founded  near  the  time  of  the  first 
Crusade  by  a  migration  from  Armenia 
proper  ;  made  important  by  Leo  II.  ; 
its  traditional  policy  was  one  of 
alliance  with  Latins  against  Moslems 
and  Byzantines.  Leo  westernised  his 
realm,  and  introduced  a  feudal  con- 
stitution ;  the  Court  was  modelled  on 


Western  examples ;  the  crown  was 
accepted  from  Henry  VI.  as  a  fief 
of  the  Western  Empire  ;  the  Church 
was  united  with  Rome ;  branches  of 
the  Western  Orders  of  Chivalry  were 
instituted.  The  Mongol  conquests 
brought  them  right  up  to  the  borders 
of  Little  Armenia.  The  new  routes 
and  new  markets  opened  by  the 
Mongol  conquests  have  not  been 
sufficiently  noticed. 

5  Pals  or  Plas.  Also  called  Tortus 
Palorum  (or  de  Pallibus),  the  modern 
Porto  cli  Plas.  From  Lajazzo,  a 
trade-route  to  Tabriz  in  North  Persia 
is  described  by  Pegolotti  in  the  four- 
teenth century  :  Pratica  del  la  mer- 
catura,  ch.  vi.  ;  see  pp.  299-301  of 
Yule's  Cathay  and  the  tcay  thither. 


VI.]  LITTLE    ARMENIA    AS    A    TRADE    CENTRE  457 

trade-routes  crossed  the  country  ;  from  Aleppo  or  Antioch 
to  Iconium  and  the  Bosphorus  ;  from  the  Upper  Euphrates 
(by  Marach)  to  the  centre  and  West  of  Anatolia  ;  from  the 
harbour  of  Lajazzo  to  Northern  Persia  and  Tabriz  ;  and  from 
Egypt,  Arabia,  and  Syria  to  the  North.  The  southern  and 
eastern  roads  met  at  Alexandretta,  passed  through  the 
coast  towns  of  Mamistra  and  .Adana,  and  crossed  the 
Taurus  by  the  pass  of  Gulek  Boghaz. 

The  products  of  Little  or  Southern  Armenia  were  varied 
and  highly  prized,  especially  its  cottons,  camelots,  and  iron  ; l 
the  most  favoured  among  its  Latin  visitors  were  the  Genoese, 
whose  embassy  iu  1201  was  well  received,  and  gained  an 
increase  of  trading  privileges  by  the  treaty  of  1215  ;  a 
diploma  of  Leo  II.,  issued  in  March  of  this  year,  fixed  the 
dues  payable  by  the  Genoese  at  the  passage  of  the  river 
Jihan,  and  provided  against  any  extortion.  In  earlier  days, 
after  the  Greek  emperors  of  the  Byzantine  revival  (960- 
1025)  recovered  this  province,  the  Venetians  had  been  fore- 
most ;  and  their  rights,  as  guaranteed  in  1082,  were  confirmed 
by  treaties  of  1201  and  1245. 

Syrians,  Persians,  and  other  Moslems  did  business  in 
Little  Armenia ;  thus  the  Bagdad  firm  of  Yussuf  had  a 
branch  for  its  cotton  trade  in  Lajazzo  ;  and  in  1268  a  galley 
full  of  rich  wares  belonging  partly  to  Armenians,  partly  to 
men  of  Acre,  Tyre,  and  Antioch,  and  partly  to  various  subjects 
of  the  Mongol  Khan  of  Persia,2  was  seized  in  the  harbour  of 
Corycus. 

Both  from  Lesser  Armenia  and  from  the  northern  and 
southern  coasts  of  the  Black  Sea,  from  Lajazzo  as  well  as 
from  Trebizond  and  Sudak,  new  or  extended  trade  routes 
were  opened  by  the  levelling  conquests  of  the  Mongols  ; 
the  way  from  the  Taurus   to  Tabriz  and  the   Caucasus  ran 

1  From  mines  in  Mount  Taurus.  -  Abaka,  successor  of  HuLi^u. 


458  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

through  Sivas,  Erzinghian,  and  Erzerum  ;  and  the  rulers 
of  Sis  and  Tarsus  were  in  a  specially  favourable  position 
to  promote  the  traffic  on  this  road.  As  Christian  sovereigns 
of  the  Eoman  faith,  and  as  favoured  'allies'  of  the  Great 
Khan,  they  formed  a  bond  between  the  Latin  and  Tartar 
worlds ;  the  Emperors  of  Trebizond  occupied  a  similar  but 
less  happy  position ;  for  they  were  adherents  of  the  '  Greek 
schism,'  on  one  hand,  and  counted  rather  as  vassals  than  as 
friends  of  the  Mongols,  on  the  other.  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  by  the  time  of  Marco  Polo  the  Genoese  seem  to 
have  pushed  on  to  the  Caspian 1 — like  the  Eussian  pirates  and 
pedlars  of  the  tenth  century — and  to  have  begun  a  maritime 
trade,  especially  concerned  with  silken  stuffs,  upon  its 
waters ;  in  the  light  of  this  fact,  we  shall  better  understand 
the  remarkable  knowledge  of  the  inland  sea  shown  in  the 
early  portolani. 

Egypt,  as  we  have  seen,  was  of  capital  importance,  both 
in  the  politics  and  in  the  trade  of  the  Crusading  Era ;  for 
the  Fatimites  were  the  chief  leaders  of  the  Moslem  resist- 
ance to  Western  attack  ;  and  among  the  three  leading 
markets  of  the  world  the  Delta  of  the  Nile  must  certainly 
be  counted,  only  inferior  (if  inferior  at  all)  to  Southern 
Mesopotamia,  or  the  Bagdad  region,  and  the  Bosphorus, 
or  neighbourhood  of  Constantinople.  Both  from  the 
Mediterranean  and  from  the  Eed  Sea  traffic  flowed  into 
the  'market  of  two  worlds,'2  as  William  of  Tyre  surnames 
Alexandria  ;  by  the  former  Egypt  communicated  with  the 
most   distant  countries  of   Europe — Flanders,  England,  the 

1  Cf.  Fralm,  Iln  Foslan,   pp.   1-23,    i    Russian  goods  down  to  Itil  (answer- 
70,    147,    168,   226,   247,    258,    266;   j    ing   to  the  modern  Astrakhan);  cf. 


ibid,  Be  C'hasaris,  pp.  591,  601, 
etc.  ;  Masudi,  ii.  pp.  9.  11  ;  Ibn 
Dasta  in  Rossler,  Romiinische  Studien, 
p.  362.     The  Bulgarians  of  the  Volga, 


Masudi,  ii.  15  ;  Heyd,  Commerce,  L, 
60-62;  Saveliev,  Handel  der  Bolgaren 
in  Erman's  ArcJiiv,  vi.  96-98. 

2  Properly,  forum  publicum  utrique 


however,  usually  carried  most  of  the    :    orbi. 


VI.] 


EGYPT  AS  A  TRADE  CENTRE 


459 


Hanse  Towns  or  the  Scandinavian  lands ;  by  the  latter  it 
received  the  products  and  dealers  of  Yemen  and  Oman  in 
South-Western  and  South-Eastern  Arabia,  of  India,  and  even 
of  China,  But  this  last  was  carefully  guarded  against  Christian 
intruders,  and  all  European  merchants  who  wished  to  do 
business  in  Egypt  or  with  the  regions  of  South-Western  Asia 
had  to  take  what  opportunities  were  offered  them  at  the 
market  of  Alexandria.  The  Frank  conquest  of  Syria  inter- 
rupted the  old  pilgrim  and  trade  route  across  the  Sinai 
peninsula,  and  compelled  Egyptian  commerce  and  travel  to 
fall  back  on  the  old  road  of  the  Ptolemies  from  the  Middle 
Nile  to  the  ports  on  the  west  coast  of  the  Eed  Sea,  the 
ancient  Myos  Hormos  and  Berenice,  the  mediaeval  Aidab. 
To  this  shore  came  the  import  traffic  from  Aden  and  the 
Indian  Ocean  ;  a  short  passage  of  seventeen  to  twenty  clays 
with  camel-caravans  brought  one  to  the  Nile,  at  Syene l  or  at 
Kus ;  and  from  either  of  these  harbours  it  was  an  easy  river- 
journey  clown  to  Cairo  and  the  Delta. 

The  importance  of  the  Nile  in  this  connection  was  in 
part  the  explanation  of  the  popular  belief  that  the  river  of 
Egypt,  supposed  to  be  identical  with  the  Gihon  of  Scripture, 
flowed  from  Paradise,  and  brought  the  spices,  aloes,  and 
other  products  of  Eden  clown  to  the  lands  of  fallen  men  ;  '2 
in  the  religious  and  book-learned  world  of  Christendom 
this  view  long  survived  the  spread  of  juster  notions  in 
commercial  societies ;  and  even  the  latter  may  have  re- 
garded  it   with    some    satisfaction    as    attaching   a    greater 


1  Assuan. 

2  Cf.  Edrisi,  i.  28.  35-39,  49,  51, 
127,  132,  etc,  152,  313,  331,  etc. 
M.  Polo's  description  of  this  com- 
merci  ■  1  route  from  Aden  to  Alexandria 
is  somewhat  inaccurate,  especially  in 
his  reckoning  of  time  required  hy 
various  stages.     Kus  and  Assuan.  not 


Korosko,  served  as  the  Nile  rendez- 
vous for  the  Red  Sea  trade.  James 
de  Vitry  speaks  of  vessels  coming 
direct  from  the  Indies  to  Damietta, 
whereas  three  kinds  of  craft  were 
usually  employed  on  the  journey — 
Ocean  vessels,  Red  Sea  vessels,  and 
Nile  boats. 


460  COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL  [Oh. 

value,  and  so  a  higher  price,  to  the  articles  imported  from 
Alexandria.  At  the  great  port  of  the  Delta  an  amazing 
quantity  of  spices  was  constantly  being  collected  and  dis- 
tributed ;  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  William  of  Tyre,  James  de 
Vitry,  and  Burkhard  the  ambassador  of  Frederic  Barbarossa,1 
are  but  the  leading  witnesses,  among  Latin  writers  and 
travellers  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  to  the 
greatness  of  this  '  market  of  all  nations.' 2  Bosetta  and 
Damietta,  though  at  a  long  interval,  followed  Alexandria  in 
wealth  and  prosperity  ;  the  admirable  waterway  of  the  Nile, 
the  close  proximity  of  the  Bed  Sea,3  the  central  and  com- 
manding position  of  Egypt  both  for  war  and  commerce,  gave 
the  ports  of  the  Delta  an  unquestionable  superiority  over  the 
Syrian  harbours. 

But  great  as  were  the  profits  which  the  Egyptian  trade 
brought  to  Europe,  this  commerce  had  another  side,  wherein 
European  imports  appeared  no  less  indispensable  to  Egypt. 
That  wealthy  country  was  wholly  dependent  on  outside  supply 
for  its  wood  and  iron ;  and  in  spite  of  every  patriotic  and 
religious  prejudice,  and  prohibition,  Christian  states  continued 
to  furnish  the  Fatimite  dominions  with  these  vital  articles 
from  the  tenth  to  the  twelfth  century.  After  the  time  of 
Saladin  this  commerce  rather  increased  than  diminished  with 
the  growing  sense  of  commercial  interest ;  the  efforts  of  the 
Popes  (even  of  Innocent  III.),  of  the  Venetian  Doges,  of  the 
Genoese  Consuls,  of  the  Aragonese  kings,  were  in  vain 
directed    against  it,4  with  a  zeal   often    feigned  and  never 


1  1175  A.D. 

2  Cf.  Benjamin  of  Tudela  on  Alex- 
andria ;  see  pp.  261-3  of  this  vol. 

3  Connected  with  the  Mediterranean 
Sea  by  a  freshwater  canal  at  least  as 
old  as  Necho,  and  constantly  renewed 
and  as  constantly  abandoned,  down 
to    the    middle    of    the    eighth    cen- 


tury; cf.  Dawn  of  Modern  Geography, 
i.,  p.  162. 

4  Cf.  e.g.  the  prohibitions  by  (1)  The 
Doge  P.  Ziani,  1226;  (2)  the  Consuls  of 
Genoa,  1151  ;  (3)  James  I.  of  Aragon, 
both  for  Montpcllier  and  Barcelona 
(1231-1274).  The  Pisan  secret  treaty 
with  Egypt  in  1173  is  a  good  example 


VI.] 


EGYPT    AS    A    TRADE    CENTRE 


461 


effective ;  and  while  official  proclamations  were  being  issued 
against  a  '  blasphemous  trade,'  it  was  secretly  extended  by 
fresh  treaties.  The  Italian  and  other  Mediterranean 
smugglers  might  perhaps  claim  that,  if  they  retired,  their 
place  would  be  taken  by  the  Flemings,  Saxons,  Danes,  and 
other  Northerners x  who  now  made  their  appearance  in  the 
markets  of  the  Delta.  In  spite  of  the  rage  and  terror 
which  Saladin's  conquests  produced ;  in  spite  of  the  growing 
sense  that  if  the  Holy  War  were  ever  to  succeed,  Egypt  must 
be  conquered ;  and  in  spite  of  the  '  Egyptian '  character  of 
all  the  later  Crusades,2  commercial  ambitions  steadily  gained 
upon  political  enmities.  Thus  Wilbrand  of  Oldenburg 3  re- 
places Godfrey  of  Bouillon  ;  and  the  indifferentist,  Frederic 
II.,  nominal  leader  of  a  Crusade,  maintains  so  close  a 
friendship 4  with  the  Sultan  of  Egypt  that  German  mer- 
chants (it  is  said)  were  able  to  travel  in  the  company  of 
Egyptians  to  the  Indies.5  Even  if  this  story  may  be  in 
part  accepted,  it  is  probable  that  the  journey  in  question 
must  be  understood  as  no  more  than  a  voyage  to  Aden,6 — 


of  a  numerous  type  ;  cf.  Werlauff, 
Symbol.  Geog.  rued.  aev. ;  Hanotaux, 
404.  Even  little  states  like  Ancona, 
Bari,  Brindisi,  Trani,  and  Barletta, 
and  other  small  ports  of  the  Norman 
Kingdom  and  Central  Italy  traded 
with  Alexandria,  Eosetta,  or  Damietta 
in  the  last  century  of  the  Crusading 
period,  1170-1260. 

1  Cf.  Benjamin  of  Tudela  on 
Alexandria,  see  pp.  261-3  of  this  vol. 
He  adds,  according  to  one  emenda- 
tion of  the  (here  doubtful)  text,  the 
Russians.  Asher  corrects  this  to  men 
of  Roussillon,  and  this  seems  more 
probable  ;  but  Heyd  defends  the 
old  reading,  and  quotes  Constantine 
Porphyrogennetos  and  Ibn  Khor- 
dadbeh,  as  implying  that  the  Rus- 
sians navigated    as    far    as    Syria   in 


the  tenth  century — an  exceedingly 
doubtful  theory.  Normans  and 
Burgundians  are  also  named  by 
Benjamin  of  Tudela  among  Alexan- 
dria merchants ;  it  is  curious  that 
as  late  as  1174  (as  in  1153-1154)  Nor- 
man fleets  attacked  Egypt. 

2  From  1202.  The  fourth  Crusade 
was  officially  announced  as  an  attack 
upon  the  Nile  Delta. 

a  1211. 

4  In  1225-1240. 

5  So  Matthew  Paris,  Chr.  Maj.,  v. 
217,  ed.  Luard. 

6  Cf.  Ibn  Alathir,  in  Rec.  des  hist, 
des  Crois.,  hist,  orient.,  i.  597,  and 
Edi  isi,  i.  51 ;  the  latter  specifies,  among 
the  articles  of  the  Aden  market,  musk, 
pepper,  camphor,  galangale,  cocoanuts, 
aloes,  ebony,  ivory,  and  porcelain. 


462 


COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL 


[Ch. 


the  'market  of  India  and  Zanzibar,  of  Abyssinia  and  Oman 
and  Persia,' — where,  from  remote  time,  Indian  and  Chinese 
traders  had  often  come  to  meet  those  of  Arabia  and  Egypt, 
and  where  Indian  produce  was  usually  transferred  to  the 
lighter  barks  of  the  Eed  Sea.1  A  stricter  criticism  must 
be  applied  to  the  Pisan  claim  of  an  '  Indian  voyage '  by 
way  of  Egypt  in  1175,  and  not  even  the  later  Consulate 
of   Venice   in   Siam 2  can    put   this   tale   beyond   question.3 


1  Makrizi,  in  Quatremere,  Memoires 
sur  VEgypte,  ii.  162,  etc. 

2  At  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
century. 

3  Heyd,  Commerce,  ii.  153-156.  As 
to  the  Indian  trade,  cf.  the  strange 
narrative  in  the  Conoscimiento  cle  todos 
los  reynos  y  tierras  y  senorios  que  son 
por  el  mundo,  etc.  (c.  a.d.  1330)  of  a 
journey  of  Sorleone  Vivaldo  to  Maga- 
doxo  in  East  Africa,  on  the  way  to 
India  ;  however  fabulous  the  story 
may  be  in  many  parts,  the  mention 
of  Magadoxo  in  this  connection  is 
important,  referring  apparently  to 
the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  suggesting  a  well-known  trade- 
route,  in  use  at  the  close  of  this 
period  of  the  Central  Middle  Ages 
(c.  1260).  In  the  early  fourteenth 
century  (c.  1315),  another  member  of 
the  Vivaldi  family,  one  Benedetto, 
seems  to  have  gone  to  India  by  the 
overland  route  from  Lajazzo  to  Tabriz 
and  Ormuz. 

The  growing  persistence,  daring, 
and  success  of  the  Christian  trader  of 
the  Crusading  period  corresponds  to 
an  ever-increasing  weakness  and  decay 
of  Moslem  commerce,  which,  down  to 
the  close  of  the  eleventh  century,  un- 
questionably controlled  the  purse- 
strings  of  the  world.  How  great  the 
mercantile  ascendency  of  the  Arabs 
must  have  been  in  the  pre-Crusading 


time  may  be  partly  guessed  from  the 
amount,  the  diffusion,  and  the  chrono- 
logy of  the  Mohammedan  coins  which 
in  orrr  own  day  have  been  found  buried 
in  European  hoards.  These  range 
from  a.d  698  to  1010;  they  have 
been  discovered  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Kazan  and  Lake  Ladoga,  and  in 
the  valley  of  the  Pet>-hora,  in  the 
Crimea  and  the  vicinity  of  Mainz  and 
of  Frankfort-on-Main,  in  Iceland  and 
England,  and  in  almost  every  part  of 
the  Baltic  coasts,  from  the  moufti  of 
the  Oder  to  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  from 
the  ancient  '  Jumna  '  to  '  Aldeigia- 
borg.'  In  Esthonia,  Livonia,  and 
Courland,  more  than  13,000  pieces 
have  been  unearthed,  and  the  vast 
majority  of  the  finds  have  been  within 
the  borders  of  the  modern  Russian 
state,  especially  on  the  Upper  and 
Middle  Volga.  As  to  this,  we  need 
only  recall  the  early  mediaeval  im- 
portance of  Bolghar  and  the  early 
Islamism  of  the  Old  Bulgarians  of 
this  region,  who,  according  to  Ibn 
Dasta,  were  paid  in  dirhems,  and 
bought  whatever  they  wanted  with 
marten  skins,  constantly  descending 
the  Volga  (a  river-journey  of  two 
months)  to  trade  at  Itil  or  on  the 
shores  of  the  Caspian,  and  even 
making  a  regular  business  of  caravan- 
trade  with  Khwarezm  or  Khiva. 
Through  the  medium,  chiefly,  of  Arab 


VI.] 


THE    RED    SEA    ROUTE    TO    INDIA 


463 


The  development  of  piracy  in  the  Persian  Gulf  during  the 
thirteenth  century  naturally  increased  the  importance  of 
Aden  and  the  Erythaean  route ;  the  junks  of  Fo-kien, 
under  the  Sung  dynasty,  stopped  at  Muscat  and  Aden, 
in  Oman  and  Yemen,  and  thus  Egyptian  commerce  in 
Southern  and  Further  Asia  was  developed.  An  embassy 
from  Ceylon  to  Cairo  in  1283  seems  to  have  been,  not  the 
commencement,  but  the  continuation,  of  a  direct  commercial 
intercourse  dating  from  the  middle  of  the  century. 

Thus  the  Red  Sea  avenue  to  India,  and  beyond,  enjoyed 
from  time  to  time  during  the  Middle  Ages  a  decisive  and 
almost  modern  preponderance  over  the  maritime  route 
from  the  Persian  Gulf ;  yet  the  latter  was  of  great  im- 
portance during  most  of  this  period  (950-1250),  and  it  was 


merchants,  Byzantine  jewellery  and 
money  found  its  way  to  Bolghar,  and 
Ibn  Foslan  observed  the  use  of  the 
same,  not  only  among  the  Bulgarians, 
but  also  among  the  less  civilised  and 
commercial  Russians.  The  conversion 
of  the  Bulgars  (or  at  least  their  de- 
Islamising  by  the  Russian  princes  and 
others)  in  the  eleventh  century  broke 
up  a  trade-route  which  had  depended 
on  the  close  connection  of  Bolghar 
with  the  Mohammedan  world,  and 
especially  with  the  Central  Asiatic 
and  Persian  lands  from  which  come 
the  vast  majority  of  the  Arab  coins 
referred  to.  Rich  Moslems  seem  to 
have  had  for  many  generations  a 
peculiar  weakness  for  the  furs  of  the 
North,  and,  to  a  less  degree,  for  the 
amber  of  the  Baltic ;  commerce  as 
well  as  proselytism  brought  Arab 
wanderers  into  mid- Russia  ;  and  if 
religion  was  the  dominant  interest 
with  Ibn  Foslan,  mercantile  concep- 
tions seem  to  underlie  the  remarks  of 
Masudi  on  the  Ludaaneh,  that  'largest 
tribe   of  Russians,'  whose  trade,   he 


declares,  extended  not  only  to  Kha- 
zaria  but  also  to  the  Bosphorus,  the 
New  and  the  Old  Rome,  and  even 
Spain.  Much  of  this  commerce,  if 
we  regard  it  as  authentic,  must  have 
passed  through  Moslem  channels  ; 
but  these  were  still  the  days  of  the 
cosmopolitan  activity  of  Islam  and  the 
Arabs,  whose  simultaneous  presence, 
in  Spain  and  the  Narbonnese,  in 
South  Italy  and  in  Sicily,  in  Korea 
and  Japan,  as  well  as  on  the  Middle 
Volga,  testified  in  the  tenth  century 
to  a  long-lost  expansive  and  civilising 
force  in  the  faith  and  system  of 
Mohammed.  During  the  '  Mace- 
donian' revival  of  the  Byzantine 
State  a  great  increase  of  trade  was 
recorded  between  Constantinople  and 
the  Moslem  world,  especially  of  Spain ; 
it  may  also  be  noticed  how  close  and 
active  was  the  commercial  intercourse 
between  Spain  and  Egypt  in  the  tenth 
century.  Both  were  anti-Abbasside 
states,  one  Ommeyad,  the  other 
Fatimite  ;  and  Chasdai,  the  Hebrew 
minister   of  Abderrahman    III.,   not 


464 


COMMERCIAL    TRAVEL 


[Ch.  VI. 


intimately  connected  with  the  overland  ways  already  noticed 
to  Tabriz.  From  the  latter  traders  could  descend  through 
Persia  by  way  of  Yezd  and  Kerman  to  Bassora  and  the 
Gulf;  the  voyage  thence  to  China  lay  past  Ormuz  and  the 
Malabar  coast. 


only  worked  for  his  own  race  and 
religion,  but  for  his  sovereign  and 
the  Western  Caliphate ;  it  was  clearly 
in  the  interest  of  Cordova  to  cultivate 
friendship,  and,  if  possible,  alliance 
with  Cairo  on  one  side  and  Khazaria 
on  the  other.  In  this  policy  Con- 
stantinople formed  an  almost  indis- 
pensable link  ;  here  was  one  of  many 
reasons  for  the  traditional  amity  of 
the  Eastern  Caesars  and  the  princes 
of  '  Magreb. ' 

Cf.  Paul  Saveliev,  Ninnismatique 
mahometane,  and  map  showing 
diffusion  of  Moslem  coins ;  ibid,  .  .  . 
Handel  der  Bulgaren  ...  in  Erman's 


Archiv.,  vi.  ;  Frahn,  Bulletin  de 
VAcademie  de  St.  Pete.rsbourg,  t.  ix. 
Xos.  19,  20,  21  ;  ibid,  Ibn  Fuslan, 
pp.  1-23,  70-71,  147,  168,  174,  247, 
258,  266;  Masudi,  ii.,  9,  11,  15,  18; 
Rafn,  Antiquites  russes,  i.  295,  317, 
426,  432  ;  ii.  119 ;  Heyd,  Commerce  du 
Levant,  i.,  47-49,  50,  53,  58-59,  61-63, 
67,  70-71,  74-76.  Heyd  identifies  the 
'  Ludaaneh, '  not  with  any  Russians 
proper,  but  with  the  Slavic  Lutchanes 
or  Luzanians  of  Lutsk  in  Volhynia,  or 
of  Veliki  Luki  near  Old  Novgorod: 
other  writers  have  usually  translated 
the  term  either  by  '  Lithuanians '  or 
'  people  of  Ladoga. ' 


(     465     ) 


CHAPTER  VII 

GEOGRAPHICAL   THEORY   AND    DESCRIPTION 

In  the  former  volume  of  this  history  l  an  attempt  was  made 
to  illustrate  the  chief  types  of  European  study  or  speculation 
in  geography  during  the  first  six  hundred  years  of  Christian 
supremacy.  The  Statisticians,  the  Cosmographers,  and  the 
Fabulists  were  examined  in  the  writings  of  Dicuil  and  the 
Ravennese,  of  Cosmas  and  of  Solinus,  of  Capella,  Macrobius, 
Basil,  x^Ethicus,  and  others.  In  the  Central  Middle-Age 
period  that  now  concerns  us,  Patristic  geography  passes 
into  Scholastic ;  and  while  practical  exploration  steadily 
advances  with  the  travels  of  pirates,  warriors,  merchants 
and  diplomatists,  theoretical  '  earth  knowledge '  shows  like- 
wise an  unmistakable  progress.  Of  this  we  shall  take 
three  examples,  one  Byzantine,  another  German,  the  third 
international ;  and  in  the  manual  of  Constantiue  Porphyro- 
gennetos  On  the  Administration  of  the  Empire,  in  Adam  of 
Bremen's  History  of  the  Church  of  Hamburg,  and  in  the 
chief  Maps  of  the  tenth,  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  earlier 
thirteenth  centuries,  we  shall  hardly  fail  to  recognise  a  very 
different  spirit  from  that  which  overshadows  the  Dark 
Ages  proper.  Constantino  VII.  indeed  belongs  to  a  time 
which,  for  Western  Europe,  is  often  considered  to  be  among 

1  Dawn  of  Modem  Geography,  i.,  pp.  243-391. 

2g 


466        GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION        [°H- 

the  gloomiest  of  epochs ;  but  he  represents  Oriental 
Christendom  in  the  full  tide  of  a  revival  (under  the 
'  Macedonian '  Emperors),  which  in  many  ways  led  up 
to,  aided,  or  announced  the  mediaeval  Renaissance  of  the 
West.  With  Adam  of  Bremen,  the  signs  of  that  Renaissance 
are  unmistakable ;  we  have  reached  the  clear  light  and 
true  shining  of  a  new  life,  soon  to  be  expressed  in  action 
by  the  Crusades,  and  in  thought  by  the  Schoolmen  and 
the  Universities.  Finally,  in  some  of  the  Maps,  even  of 
the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries,  and  more  conspicuously 
in  the  later  '  chorography '  of  Matthew  Paris,  we  have, 
for  the  first  time  since  the  ruin  of  classical  science,  a 
draughtsmanship  which  is  not  merely  fanciful,  and  which 
attempts  to  co-ordinate  and  express  observation  of  material 
fact.  At  the  same  time,  we  must  not  forget  that  at  the 
very  close  of  the  Crusading  time,  distinguished  authors 
may  still  be  found  expressing  themselves  in  the  spirit 
of  Solinus  rather  than  of  Ptolemy  or  Strabo.  In  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  scientific  spirit  and  careful 
enquiry  of  Roger  Bacon  and  Albertus  Magnus  may  be  con- 
trasted with  the  bald  and  superstitious  traditonalism  of  most 
'  philosophers ' ;  geographical  mythology  and  pseudo-science 
continue  to  flourish  till  a  much  later  date ; l  and  even  to  the 
end  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  Romance  of  Nature  paralyses 
the  enquiry  of  a  majority  of  students.  From  the  ordinary 
maps  of  this  time,  moreover,  and  in  spite  of  certain  marked 
developments,  one  may  see  how  little  the  increase  of  intellec- 
tural  activity  is  associated  with  truer  views  of  the  earth 
surface  among  untravelled  scholars ;  books  and  charts  are 
multiplied,  but  they  often  seem  only  to  repeat  the  vain 
babblings  of  the  wonder-seekers  ;  we  have  yet  to  wait  for 
the  time  when  achievement  and  thought,  action  and  retiec- 

1  And  may  be  illustrated  by  such  works  as  the  Borgian  Map  of  c.  a.d.  1450. 


VII.] 


CONST ANTINE    VII.    AS    GEOGRAPHER 


467 


tion, discovery  and  enlightenment,  are  normally  and  adequately 
connected.  Only  by  the  labours  of  a  few  was  the  mist  dis- 
pelled from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

§  1. — Byzantine  Geographers — Constantine    VII. 
(Porphyrogennctos) 


Among  the  Byzantine  geographers  of  this  central 
mediaeval  period,  the  Imperial  Encyclopaedist,  Constantine 
VII.,  better  known  by  his  surname  of  Porphyrogennctos1 
(911-959),  holds  a  primacy  as  unquestionable  as  that  of 
Procopius  in  the  age  of  Justinian.  The  Dark- Age  time, 
whose  beginnings  are  illustrated  by  the  one  writer,  and 
whose  close  is  adorned  by  the  other,  can  scarcely  boast  of 
any  names  more  illustrious  in  its  literary  and  mental 
history  than  these  Byzantine  authors,  '  so  accurate  for  their 
own  times,  so  loose  or  fabulous  for  preceding  ages.' 

Constantine  VII.,  as  the  clear  judgment  of  Gibbon2 
acknowledged,  is  more  to  us  as  a  geographer  than  as  a 
lawyer,  moralist,  economist,  tactician,  or  master  of  cere- 
monies. For  though  his  Treatise  On  the  Public  Administra- 
tion of  the  Empire,  with  its  detailed  account  of  the  subjects, 
vassals,  and  neighbours  of  the  Byzantine  state,  is  not  free 
from  the  defects  of  the  Tactics,  Ceremonies,  Themes,  Geo- 
ponics,  or  Basilics,  of  the  same  royal  author,  yet  it  is 
certainly  distinguished  by  '  peculiar  merits.'  Tor  it  abounds 
in  details  of  contemporary  (if  not  always  first-hand)  in- 
formation upon  the  Barbarian  world  of  Europe  to  the 
north  and  north-east  of  Constantinople ;  and  as  this 
Barbarian  world  of  the  tenth  century  was  in  great  measure 


1  I.e.  Bominthe Porphyry  Chamber, 
reserved  for  the  use  of  the  pregnant 
empresses.     This  room  was  hung  with 


purple  (Greek  'porphyry),  the  imperial 
colour. 

2  Decline  and  Fall,  ch.  liii. 


468        GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION        [Ch. 

a  lasting  (and  not  as  so  often  before,  an  ephemeral)  group 
of  nations,  the  photographic  sketch  of  the  Be  Administrando 
Imperio  likewise  remains  as  a  record  of  abiding  value. 

For  the  history  and  geography  of  several  of  these  nations, 
it  is  in  point  of  time  the  primary  authority,  a  parallel  for 
South-Eastern  Europe  to  the  Mosaic  Eecord  for  the  Hebrews, 
or  to  the  Germania  of  Tacitus  for  the  regions  East  of  Ehine 
and  North  of  Danube.  Its  chief  objects  are  to  survey  the 
neighbours  and  vassals  of  the  Empire  ;  to  describe  their 
countries,  to  point  out  the  various  tribes  which  might  be 
considered  friendly  or  hostile,  useful  or  dangerous,  to 
Byzantine  interests ;  to  draw  out  the  rules  of  Imperial 
policy  in  dealing  with  these  barbarians  ;  to  explain  how  they 
might  be  weakened  by  divisions  fomented,  by  subsidies  and 
promises  liberally  despatched,  from  Constantinople. 

In  the  tenth  century,  the  early  eleventh,  and  the 
middle  of  the  twelfth,  the  Byzantine  State  was  perhaps  the 
most  important,  the  most  civilised,  and  even  the  most  power- 
ful of  Christian  Kingdoms.  In  the  course  of  its  age-long 
and  obstinate  resistance  to  the  forces  both  of  Moslem  and 
Barbarian  invaders,  it  thrice  renewed  the  energies  which 
befitted  a  Roman  nation  ;  and  among  the  sovereigns  of  the 
Isaurian,  Macedonian,  and  Comnenian  dynasties,  there  were 
some  not  wholly  unworthy  of  the  throne  of  Justinian.  It  is 
the  second  of  these  three  revivals  that  now  concerns  us, 
when  Basil  I.  saved  the  State  from  Michael  the  Drunkard  ; 
when  the  '  Macedonian  '  or  Slavo- Armenian  House  won  back 
province  after  province  of  the  shrunken  Empire  ;  and  when 
an  imperial  scholar,  in  defining  the  external  policy  of  Con- 
stantinople, revealed  for  the  first  time  some  of  the  new  races 
and  future  masters  of  Eastern  Europe.  This  sketch,  though 
political  and  diplomatic  in  its  essence,  is  incidentally  a  geo- 


VII.]  EXTENT    OF    BYZANTINE    INFLUENCE  469 

graphical  monument  of  the  first  importance  ;  and,  unless  it  is 
studied  with  the  prejudices  so  long  traditional  in  Western 
Europe,  it  will  appear  to  give  certain  obvious  lessons  on  the 
place  of  Byzantium  in  the  world  of  the  Dark  Ages.  For  it  will 
show  us  how  the  Eastern  Empire,  autocratic  and  central- 
ised in  its  Government,  influenced  on  one  side  by  Levantine 
luxury  and  on  another  by  Scythian  savagery,  fighting  with 
diplomacy  more  often  than  with  arms,  and  with  spiritual 
weapons  more  effectively  than  with  temporal,  was  yet  able 
to  extend  its  influence  over  an  area1  scarcely  less  wide  than 
the  sphere  of  its  Western  rival,  in  the  days  of  the  Saxon 
Emperors. 

Out  of  the  hordes  of  Slavic  and  Turco-Tartar  tribes  on 
the  North-East,  Byzantine  civilisation  helped  to  create  the 
Christian  States  of  Bulgars,  Magyars,  Croats,  Serbs,  and 
Russians.  To  the  South-East,  after  the  losses  of  the  seventh 
century,  the  Byzantine  resistance  maintained  the  line  of  the 
Taurus  against  the  forces  of  Islam  ;  saved  Armenia,2  that  all- 
important  vantage-ground  of  Western  Asia,  from  an  exclusive 
Moslem  domination ;  and  by  the  side  of  the  decaying  Cali- 
phate of  Bagdad  (ruined  as  a  political  force  from  about  950) 
exhibited  afresh  something  of  the  ancient  life  and  strength 
of  Borne.  Yet  on  the  Asiatic  side  the  Byzantine  recovery 
left  no  permanent  effects ;  it  delayed  the  triumph  of  the 
earlier  and  more  civilised  Islam  in  the  nearer  East, — it  did 
not  avert  such  a  triumph  under  the  leadership  of  barbarous 
hordes ;  and  it  repelled  the  Arab  only  to  fall  a  prey  to  the 
Turk, — Seljuk  and  Ottoman, — for  ever  incapable  of  founding 
an  Eastern  Cordova,  a  new  Bagdad,  or  a  Northern  Cairo.  Thus 
it  was  only  in  the  precious  moments  of  delay,  in  the  time 

1   From    Kiev    to    Abyssinia,    and  Pamir,   the   other   in    the  Armenian 

from  the  Caspian  to  Sardinia.  plateau,  and  the  possession  of  either 

-  The  mountain  system  of  Asia  has  ;    is  of  course  a  question  of  the   first 

two  great  centres  or  knots,  one  in  the  strategic  value. 


470       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch. 


it  saved  for  the  development  of  the  European  nations,  that 
the  Eastern  Home  can  be  said  to  have  rescued  Christendom 
from  the  Saracens.  But  on  the  side  of  Europe  the  Byzantine 
tradition,  inspired  by  the  subtle,  attractive,  proselytising 
statecraft  of  ages,  was  not  a  mere  incident  of  History.  Con- 
stantinople drew  the  Slav  world  into  the  Christian  Society. 
The  new  races  of  Sarmatia,  some  of  them  destined  to  a 
long  career  and  an  abiding  place  in  the  European  family, 
gained  from  Byzantium  an  alphabet,  a  religion,  the  begin- 
nings of  a  literature,  and  a  great  body  of  new  conceptions  in 
government,  law,  and  social  organisation.1  And  in  the  most 
virile  and  expansive  of  the  Slav  peoples  the  Byzantine  tradi- 
tion, though  strongly  marked  elsewhere,  reaches  its  most 
definite  expression.  Bulgars,  Serbs,  and  Croats  owed  much 
to  the  Bosphorus,  and  the  influence  of  Constantinople  was 
a  great  part  of  their  national  life  ;  but  the  Russians  owed  still 
more,  and  it  was  in  the  Principality  of  Kiev  that  Byzan- 
tinism  was  most  exactly  reproduced. 

In   Geography,  as    we   have   seen,  it   is   the    Byzantine 
Constantine    VII.   who   gives    us  the  first  glimpse    of    the 


1  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  do  more 
than  refer  here  to  the  Byzantine 
function  of  handing  on  ancient  Greek 
learning,  both  to  the  Arabs  and 
Latins  directly,  and  in  a  still  larger 
measure  to  the  latter  through  the 
former.  Byzantium  was  truly  the 
'  keeper  of  ancient  treasure  '  ;  the 
greater  part  of  their  science  was 
learnt  by  the  Arabs  from  the  Greek 
books  thejr  found  in  the  conquered 
Byzantine  towns  of  Syria,  Egypt, 
etc.  ;  and  from  this  Graeco-Arabic 
learning  came  (largely  by  way  of 
Spain)  the  first  or  mediaeval  renais- 
sance of  letters  in  the  eleventh 
century  (cf.  Gerbert's  life  at  Cordova 
as   a   student).     The  second   renais- 


sance of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries,  as  inspired  by  Byzantine 
scholars  flying  before  the  Turks,  is  a 
commonplace  of  history ;  it  is  more 
interesting  to  speculate,  with  Nor- 
denskjold,  how  far  the  Portolani 
compass-maps,  or  coast  charts,  of  the 
Western  Mediterranean  were  origin- 
ally derived  from  Byzantine  sources, 
either  before  or  soon  after  the  first 
Crusade.  The  transference  of  thisgerm 
of  science  cannot  well  in  any  case  have 
occurred  before  the  eleventh-century 
awakening  of  "Western  intelligence, 
but  remembering  the  close  connec- 
tion of  Venice  and  Amain  with 
Constantinople,  it  is  difficult  to  ignore 
the  suggestion  altogether. 


VII.]  BYZANTINE    INFLUENCE    ON    SLAVS  471 

habitat  and  movements  of  the  nations  which  were  destined 
to  prevail  in  Eastern  Europe.  The  scanty  rays  of  light 
which  the  Scandinavian  Sagas,  following  the  track  of 
Rurik,  begin  to  throw  a  little  later  from  the  North-West 
towards  Novgorod,  are  preceded  by  the  far  clearer  beams  of 
a  knowledge  which  radiates  from  the  South-West  and  the 
Imperial  Chancery  of  Stambul  to  Kiev,  the  Dniepr,  and  the 
Volga, 

Western  Europe  betrayed  and  ruined  the  Eastern  Empire 
in  the  fourth  'Crusade'  of  1202-1204,  and  thus  having  made 
a  fatal  breach  in  the  chief  Levantine  bastion  of  the  Christian 
fortress,  abandoned  to  the  Turks  the  kingdom  and  the  city 
which  for  so  many  centuries  had  kept  out  the  unbeliever  and 
the  barbarian,  and  which  had  not  only  been  the  protector, 
but  in  a  great  measure  the  educator,  of  the  new  and  still 
halting  civilisation  of  the  German  and  Latin  peoples.  [Laving 
accomplished  the  first  two  acts  cf  this  brilliant  drama,  the 
public  opinion  of  the  progressive  nations  consummated  its 
work  in  the  third, — burying  under  contempt  and  obloquy 
the  history  and  the  achievements  of  a  people  which,  at 
least  in  art,1  must  be  ever  memorable,  and  which  in  the 
science  of  diplomacy,  the  faculty  of  racial  absorption,  and 
the  field  of  law,  was  not  unworthy  of  the  great  name  that  it 
inherited.  In  some  ways,  the  fate  of  Christian  Byzantium 
has  been  like  that  of  Poland,  but  as  its  services  were 
greater,  and  its  place  in  civilisation  far  more  eminent,  so  its 
fate  has  been  more  terrible  and  more  despised.     The  Slav 


1  For  a  long  time  Byzantine  art  is 
a  dominating  influence  in  many 
regions  west  of  the  Adriatic,  and 
from  Perigueux  to  Eavenna,  from 
Venice  to  Trebizond,  and  from  Pal- 
ermo to  Moscow,  the  influence  of  its 
architecture  may  be  traced.  St.  |  all  other  artists 
Sophia   at  Constantinople    must   al-    ' 


ways  rank  as  one  of  the  greatest 
human  buildings,  and,  until  the 
thirteenth  century,  Christian  archi- 
tecture had  nothing  to  put  in  the 
same  class  with  it.  In  mosaic  work 
|    the  Byzantines  were  the  teachers  of 


472        GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION        [Oh. 

peoples,  to  whom  the  Lower  Empire  gave  letters,  and  law, 
and  religion,  and  the  elements  of  civilisation,  alone  preserved 
some  feeling  of  gratitude  and  reverence  for  their  Mother,  the 
Second  Rome. 

Constantine  VII.,  fourth  of  the  Macedonian  line,  was 
himself  an  expression  of  the  union  of  races  within  the 
Empire,  of  the  possibilities  within  the  grasp  of  the  most 
distant  provincials.  His  family,  partly  Slav,  partly  Ar- 
menian in  origin,  had  risen  (through  the  talents  of  Basil  I.) 
to  the  headship  of  the  State  ;  and  the  intruding  House  had 
the  longest  as  well  as  the  most  glorious  reign  among 
Byzantine  dynasties.  Under  their  rule,  the  principle  of 
hereditary  succession  was  firmly  established,  the  monarchy 
of  Justinian  was  in  great  part  re-established,  the  legislation 
of  the  sixth  century  was  amplified,  and  a  remarkable  series 
of  state-manuals  was  drawn  up,  which  described  in  the  most 
minute  detail2  the  provinces  of  the  Empire,  the  vassals  who 
adjoined  it,  and  the  hostile  and  dangerous  nations  who 
pressed  upon  its  borders  or  had  established  themselves 
within  its  area.  From  a  geographical  stand-point,  Con- 
stantine is,  of  course,  most  important  to  us  in  the  last 
of  these  sub-divisions,  as  the  describer  of  Bulgarians, 
Magyars,  Russians,  Petchinegs,  Khazars,  and  Arabs;  but  in 
his  treatment  of  the  Italian,  Dalmatian.  Armenian,  Crimean, 
and  Caucasian  allies  or  dependents  of  Byzantium,  the 
imperial  author  is  hardly  less  valuable.  It  was  fortunate 
for  his  work  that  the  circumstances  of  history  gave  it  a 
permanence  it  could  not  have  had  in  earlier  time.  In 
Europe  the  Empire  was  racial iy  complete  ;  the  last  foreign 
invasions  and  immigrations  (except  for  Turks  and  Mongols),3 

1  86S-3S6  a.d.  !        3  Both     insignificant     in    Europe 

2  To  say  nothing  of  the  Treatises       from    an    ethnographical     point     of 
on      Court      Ceremonial,  Military       view. 
Tactics,   Agriculture,  etc. 


VII.]  THE    '  ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE    EMPIRE  '         473 

had  been  accomplished  ;  and  the  age  of  change  was  over. 
From  the  tenth  century,  the  population  of  Byzantine  lands, 
on  this  side  of  the  Straits,  grows  constantly  more  homo- 
geneous. Beyond  the  limits  of  the  Empire,  once  more,  the 
same  broad  fact  is  discernible,  through  the  whole  of  South- 
Eastern  Europe ;  here  also  the  wanderings  of  the  nations,  the 
ever-recurring  waves  of  invasion  which  pass  over  the  great 
plain  from  East,  North,  West,  and  even  South,  during  seven 
centuries,1  are  drawing  to  an  end ;  and  the  lands  north  and 
east  of  Danube  are  beginning  to  settle  down  into  a 
condition  ethnographically,  if  not  politically,  similar  to  the 
present.  We  have  now  to  deal  with  the  settled  and 
permanent  masters  of  the  soil  in  '  Sarmatia,'  '  Dacia,'  and 
great  part  of  '  Russia.' 

The  author  begins  (in  chaps.  1-8)  with  the  nation 
whose  friendship  and  alliance  he  considers  of  most  im- 
portance—  the  Petchinegs  or  Patzinaks  of  the  modern 
Rumania  and  South- Western  Russia.  Having  laid  down 
the  principle  that,  with  this  race  on  the  side  of  Rome,  she 
need  not  fear  what  other  men  could  do  to  her,  Constantine 
proceeds  to  develop  this  thesis  by  showing  that  Russians,2 
Hungarians,3  and  Bulgars  all  feared  these  invincible  savages, 
and  were  all  checked  and  held  in  by  them,  lying  as  they 
did  on  the  front  of  the  first,  on  the  flank  of  the  second, 
and  on  the  rear  of  the  third.  The  Petchinegs  were  also 
useful  for  the  commerce  of  Cherson,  the  great  Crimean 
dependency  of  the  Empire,  and  could  transport  Greek  wares, 
or  Roman  Embassies,  into  the  more  distant  lands  of  the 
Khazars  and  the  Zicci    on    the    Don,    Volga,   and    Kuban. 

1  From    the   third   to   the    tenth;    ]        2  ot 'Puis.     De  Adm.  Imp.,  eh.  ii. 
from  the  time  of  Deeius  to  the  age  of  i        3  to  tQu  TovpKuv  ytvos.     De  Adm. 
the  Macedonian  and  Saxon  Emperors,    i    Imp.,  ch.  iii. 


474        GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION        [Ch. 

Cherson  is  emphasized  as  the  best  starting-point  of  all 
Byzantine  trade  and  diplomacy  on  the  North  Euxine  shores 
to  the  East  of  the  Dniepr;  but  another  route  is  indicated 
for  envoys  from  the  Bosphorus  to  the  Western  parts  of 
'  Patzinakia,'  by  the  rivers  Danube,  Dniepr,  and  Dniestr. 

The  Russians  (separated  from  the  Black  and  Azov  Seas 
by  the  Petchinegs,  from  the  Caspian  and  Lower  Volga  by 
the  Khazars)  are  next  described ;  and  the  path  of  their 
raids,  from  Old  Novgorod l  and  Tchernigov,  clown  the  Dniepr 
to  the  Black  Sea,  is  detailed ;  a  list  of  the  cataracts  which 
break  the  lower  course  of  the  Borysthenes  is  also  given 
(chap.  9). 

Next  came  the  Khazars  (then  masters  of  the  whole  South- 
East  of  modern  Russia-in-Europe),  and  evidently  held  in 
great  suspicion  by  Constantino.  Their  neighbours,  the  Uzes 
and  Alans,  it  is  noted  with  satisfaction,  can  both  do  them 
considerable  damage  and  cut  off  their  supplies.  The 
Fortress  of  Cherson  (by  the  site  of  the  present  Sevastopol) 
and  that  of  Sarkel  (at  the  mouth  of  the  Don)  were  well 
protected  from  Khazar  assailants,  as  long  as  a  good  under- 
standing prevailed  between  '  Romans  '  and  Alans  ;  this  under- 
standing was  therefore  vital.  Great,  Black,  or  Old,  Bulgaria 
(on  the  Kama  and  Middle  Volga)  could  also  attack  the 
Khazars  (chaps.  10-12). 

The  first  part  of  the  Administration  concludes  (chap. 
13)  with  an  account  of  the  nations  that  bordered  on  the 
Turks  or  Magyars,2  and  the  writer  then  passes  to  speak  of 
the  insatiable  greed  and  curiosity  of  these  Northern  barbarians, 
and  the  necessity  of  never  granting  some  of  their  favourite 
demands.     Such  were  requests  for  the  secret  of  Greek  Eire,3 


1  Nemogarda  in  chap.   ix.   of  the 
Administration ,  and  tov  'Nep.cyapdds. 

2  The  placing  of  the  '  Patzinaks  ' 


to  the  North  is  curious, 
3  Uvp  toypbv. 


VII.]  THE    'ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE    EMPIRE'         475 

for  marriage  alliances  with  princesses  of  the  Imperial  House, 
and  for  crowns  and  robes  of  pre-eminent  dignity  ; 1  the 
authority  of  Constantine  the  Great  and  Holy  was  to  be 
quoted  in  support  of  that  firm  refusal  which  was  always 
to  be  given.2 

After  the  North,  the  South.  In  the  next  chapters  (14- 
25)  we  read  of  the  Arabs  ;  of  the  descent,  career,  and  creed  of 
Mohammed  (here  ludicrously  misconceived)  ;  of  the  race  of 
the  Fatimites  ;  and  of  the  date  of  the  '  Saracen  Exodus '  (the 
Hegira,  Hijra,  or  Flight  of  the  Prophet  to  Medina,  is  ap- 
parently intended).  A  reference  is  made  to  the  Chronicle  of 
Theophanes  for  an  account  of  the  death  of  Mohammed,  the 
succession  of  Abubekr,  and  certain  details  of  the  doctrine 
of  Islam,  especially  as  to  Paradise  and  its  sensual  joys. 
The  reigns  of  the  first  Caliphs  ;  Omar's  capture  of  Jerusalem 
and  the  'blasphemous'  temple  therein  erected  by  the  victor  ; 
the  Saracen  capture  of  Pihodes,  and  removal  of  the  Colossus  ; 
their  early  attacks  on  Constantinople ;  their  invasion  of 
Spain  ;  the  vast  extent  of  their  conquests  ;  and  the  geography 
of  the  Iberian  peninsula  ; 3  are  illustrated  from  Theophanes 
and  other  writers,  mostly  of  slender  value. 

From  the  South  and  the  extreme  West,  we  now  move 
round  to  Italy  and  Illyria  ;  and  here  the  Theme  of  Lombardy 
and  its  governors,  the  melancholy  story  of  decaying  Eoman 
influence  in  the  Peninsula,  the  brighter  story  of  the  founding 
of  Venice,  and  the  geography,  races,  and  history  of  Dalmatia 
and  the  neighbouring  Serb  and  Croat  lands,  are  dealt  with 
in  turn  (chaps.  26-36). 


1  Called  Ka,f.Le\avKLa. 

2  Exceptions,  however,  certainly 
occurred  in  the  marriage-alliance  rule 
(e.g.  cf.  Leo  'the  Khazar')  and,  d 
fortiori,  they  must  have  occurred  in 
the  robe-and-crown  prohibition.  The 
secret  of   Greek    Fire  was    probably 


guarded  with  care,  but  Saracens  are 
found  possessed  of  the  discovery  from 
time  to  time. 

3  Oddly  denned  at  the  beginning 
of  ch.  24,  as  forming  two  provinces 
of  Italy  ('IraX/ay  ^7rapx/ai\  i.r.  of 
the  Roman  dominion. 


476        GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION        [Oh. 

Having  described  at  great  length  all  the  Illyrian  peoples, 
Constantine  returns  to  the  Petchinegs.  In  his  opening 
chapters  he  spoke  of  the  value  of  their  alliance  to  Byzantium, 
and  of  their  relations  with  surrounding  nations  ;  now  he  adds 
various  details  about  their  country,  their  former  migration 
from  the  Volga  and  Ural  basins,1  and  the  eightfold  division  of 
their  nation,  four  tribes  dwelling  to  the  West,  and  four  to  the 
East,  of  the  Dniepr.  A  word  is  added  about  the  six  ruined 
cities  to  be  found  in  Western  Patzinakia,  and  the  traces 
therein  afforded  of  a  vanished  Christianity  and  a  former 
Roman  civilisation  (chap.  37).  In  the  same  way,  the  Adminis- 
tration recurs  to  the  Turks  or  Magyars  (chap.  38),  their  racial 
affinities,  former  habitat,  and  recent  movement  into  the  plains 
of '  Great  Moravia ' — the  present  Hungary.2  Something  is  also 
said  about  the  geography  of  this  region,  the  social  organisa- 
tion of  its  new  masters,  their  eight  tribes,  and  the  traces  of 
old  Roman  rule  in  their  country  (chaps.  39-41).  An  important 
topographical  chapter  follows  (No.  42),  setting  forth  the 
chief  features  of  all  the  lands  from  the  Danube  to  the 
Caucasus ;  and  especially  describing  the  positions  of  the 
Danubian  Belgrad,  of  Cherson  and  Bosporos3  in  the  Crimea, 
of  Sarkel  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tanais,  of  Tamatarcha  or 
Matrica  on  the  Asiatic  side  of  the  Strait  of  Kertch,  of  Nikopsis 
near  the  site  of  Sukhuni  Kale,  and  of  the  adjoining  land  of 
the  Zicci,  separated  from  Matarcha  by  the  Uruk  or  Kuban. 
Beyond  or  above  the  Zicci  lay  Kasakia,  or  the  Cossack 
country  ;  '  above '  Kasakia  the  Caucasus  Mountains  ;  '  above  ' 
the  Caucasus  the  nation  of  the  Alans.  The  Russian  land  on 
the  upper  Dniepr,  the  lesser  rivers  between  Danube  and 
Dniepr,  especially  the  Bug  or  Bogu,  the  Maeotid  Marsh  or 

1  Atel,   Etil.  or  Itil,  and  Geeeh,  or  Petehineg  tribes,  is  also  mentioned. 
Yaik.  s  Otherwise     Panticapaeum,      the 

2  The   name  of  Kangar  or  Kanka   i  modern  Kertch. 
iKdyyap)  affected    by   three   of    the 


VH.]  THE    'ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE    EMPIRE'         477 

Sea  of  Azov,  the  shallow  gulf  of  Nekropyla  or  Karkinit  (the 
Nigropolo  of  later  Italian  traders)  on  the  West  side  of  the 
Crimean  isthmus,  are  carefully  described ;  the  distances  are 
given  from  one  point  to  another ;  and  the  imperial  author 
moves  on  to  the  East  and  to  Armenia.  The  races  and 
countries  of  the  North,  he  considers,  have  been  sufficiently 
described  ;  it  remains  to  speak  (in  chaps.  43  and  44)  of  Daron 
or  Taron  (to  the  west  of  Lake  Van),  of  Manzikert  (to  the 
North  of  the  same),  and  of  the  fortress  of  Kars  (in  the  heart  of 
the  Armenian  plateau),  then  the  residence  of  the  titular  chief 
of  all  Armenia,  the  '  King  of  kiDgs,'  who,  in  Byzantine  phrase, 
appeared  only  as  '  First  among  Archons.'  The  past  relations 
of  all  these  petty  states  with  Constantinople  are  recounted ; 
and  special  attention  is  given  to  the  affairs  of  the  Georgians 
or  Iberians,  an  interesting,  orthodox,  but  troublesome,  nation 
of  allies  or  vassals,  who  figure  largely  in  the  pages  of  Constan- 
tine  (chaps.  45,  46).  Their  fortress  of  Adranutzion,1  near  the 
modern  Olti,  had  long  been  coveted  by  the  Greeks ;  its 
military  strength  was  great ;  and  its  market  was  a  centre  for 
the  trade  (as  its  ramparts  were  the  '  keys ')  of  Trebizond, 
Iberia,  Abkhasia,  North  Armenia,  and  the  South  Caucasian 
slopes.  The  region  of  Arzen,  or  Erzerum,  is  identified  with 
the  district  of  Adranutzion,  and  the  story  is  added  of  that 
diplomatic  struggle  for  its  possession  which  ended  in  the 
victory  of  the  Iberian  princes. 

Two  chapters  about  Cyprus  and  its  re-colonisation  (Nos. 
47  and  48)  form  a  transition  to  the  concluding  part  of  the 
Administration,  which  is  almost  entirely  occupied  with 
internal  affairs,  such  as  recent  changes  in  the  organisation  of 
certain  Themes  (chap.  50),  details  of  Byzantine  naval  service 
(chap.  50),  and  an  account  of  the  invention  of  Greek  Fire 
(chap.  48),  ascribed  to  the  reign  of  Constantine  Pogonatus,  and 

1  Otherwise  Adranutze  (to    Adpavovri'i]). 


478        GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION        [Oh. 

the  genius  of  one  Kallinikos  of  Heliopolis.  The  concluding 
chapter,  however,  on  the  history  of  Cherson  (No.  53),  recurs 
to  the  field  of  external  interests.     It  is  much  the  longest  in 

O 

the  whole  work,  and  was  perhaps  a  separate  tract  in  its 
original  form.  Beginning  with  a  record  of  the  aid  rendered 
by  the  men  of  Cherson  to  Diocletian  and  Constantine  the 
Great  (when  they  combated  the  '  rebel  Scythians '  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ister,  and  defeated  the  aggressive  Bosporans  near 
Kaffa) 1  the  author  tells  us  of  the  rewards  showered  on  the 
faithful  city,  and  concludes  in  a  different  spirit  by  suggesting 
various  measures  that  are  to  be  taken  against  its  trade  and 
livelihood  in  case  of  a  revolt. 


I. — In  the  foreign  politics  of  the  Byzantines,  during  most 
of  the  tenth  (as  of  the  ninth)  century,  the  Bulgarian 
question  was  paramount.  This  Finnish  people — whether 
or  not  to  be  connected  with  those  Huns2  who,  after  the 
death  of  Attila,  had  fallen  back  to  the  basin  of  the  Don  and 
the  Azov  sea-coast ;  whether  or  no  they  may  be  recognised 
in  this  region  about  the  year  463  ;  whether  or  no  they 
received  in  the  fifth  or  sixth  century  a  reinforcement  of  their 
countrymen  from  the  Older  Bulgaria  of  the  Middle  Volga ; 
whether  or  no  they  owned  the  supremacy  of  the  Avars  in  the 
lifetime  of  Heraclius  and  Mohammed — at  any  rate  appeared 
upon  the  Danubian  frontiers  of  the  Empire  in  the  reign  of 
Constantine  IV.,  surnamed  Pogonatus,  or  the  Bearded.  They 
crossed  the  border  river  in  679  ;  they  gradually  overran, 
conquered,  and  settled  the  whole  of  the  country  north  of  the 


1  The  story  of  Gykia,  who  saved 
the  city  from  the  meditated  treason 
of  her  lord,  related  by  Constantine, 
in  eh.  53  of  the  Administration,  as 
of  a  recent  matter,  is  referred  by 
some  to  a  much  earlier  period  — about 


36-16  B.C.  ;  cf.  II.  Garnett,  E.  Hist. 
Rev.  1897,  vol.  xii.  p.  100,  etc.  ; 
Finlay,  Greece,  ii.  354-357. 

2  Cf.    Gibbon,   chap.   lv.  ;    Kruse, 
Uebersicht  d.  Gcsch.,  tabs.  9-16. 


VII.]  CONSTANTINE    ON    THE   BULGARIANS  479 

Ehodope  Mountains  and  east  of  the  Albanian  Highlands ; 
and  thus  they  became  masters  of  a  kingdom  roughly 
corresponding  in  area  to  the  modern  Principality,  as 
restored  in  1878-1885.  But  as  they  seem  to  have  retained 
their  power  over  a  vast  region  to  the  north  of  the  latter, 
over  all  the  Eastern  part  of  our  Hungary,  over  the  Banat  of 
Temesvar,  over  Transylvania,  and  over  Moldavia  and 
Wallachia,  the  Bulgars  of  the  pre-Magyar  time  were 
perhaps  the  most  powerful  nation  of  Eastern  Europe, 
and,  except  for  their  north-western  neighbours,  the  Mor- 
avians, they  might  be  said  to  be  as  much  the  leading 
race  among  Sarmatian  peoples  as  the  Franks  had  so 
long  been  among  Germanic,  In  811  they  defeated  and 
killed  the  Emperor  Nikephoros  I.,  whose  skull  was  for 
generations  a  favourite  drinking-cup  of  the  Bulgar  princes ; 
and  the  '  Boinan  '  frontier  shrank  within  limits  even  narrower 
than  (though  often  curiously  similar  to)  the  reduced  Turkey  x 
of  our  own  days.  Adrianople  and  Thessalonica  were  close 
to  the  borders  of  the  diminished  state,  and  almost  within 
sight  of  the  Bulgar  outposts.  The  Pontiff  of  Old  Eome, 
anxious  to  secure  the  rising  power  to  Latin  allegiance, 
and  indifferent,  if  not  hostile,  to  the  rights  of  Constantinople, 
sent  to  Tsar  Simeon  (888-932)  an  imperial  crown. 

But  the  skilful  intrigues  of  Leo  VI.  and  the  everlasting 
migrations  of  wandering  warrior-tribes  from  the  East,  cut 
short  this  greater  Bulgaria,2  at  the  close  of  the  ninth  century, 
by  the  inroads  of  the  Magyars  and  the  Petchinegs  ;3  all  the 
lands  beyond  the  Danube  (comprising  some  of  the  purest, 

1  Especially  to  the  borders  of  Euro  •  which  he  crushed  altogether,  with 
pean  Turkey,  as  defined  by  the  San  |  Magyar  help ;  cf.  Eambaud,  L 'empire 
Stet'ano  Treaty  of  1878. 

2  Arnulf  of  Carinthia  pursued  the 
same  policy,  on  behalf  of  German  in- 
terests, towards  Great  Moravia  (then 
the    most   civilised    of    Slav    states) 


grec  (edition  of  1870),  328,   based  on 
Codex  diplomaticus  Moraviac  (edition 
by  Boczek),  pp.  52,  70-73. 
3  From  about  8S9. 


480        GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION        [Ch. 

or  blackest,  of  Bulgar  settlements)  were  now  lost ;  and  the 
German  alliance  which  an  Embassy  to  Ludwig  the  Pious,  or 
Louis  the  Debonnair,  may  have  attempted  to  secure  (in  822), 
was  not  forthcoming.  This  flirtation  with  the  Western 
Empire,  like  the  advances  of  Krum  and  Simeon  x  to  the 
Saracen  powers,  probably  aimed  at  the  final  overthrow 
and  partition  of  the  Greek  Empire  ;  in  any  case,  this 
ambition  was  notorious  enough  to  suggest  to  the  threatened 
State  the  most  desperate  remedies — even  an  invitation  to 
more  distant  and  more  savage  hordes.  For  a  moment  this 
policy  appeared  little  short  of  suicidal :  the  Bulgars,  stripped 
of  half  their  empire,2  and  at  the  same  time  consolidated  into 
a  firmer  and  better  compacted  nation  to  the  South  of 
the  Danube,  threw  themselves  with  double  fury  against 
Stambul  itself. 

But  Simeon  failed  in  his  great  attack  of  924:  a  trace  of 
many  years  followed  ;  and  when  the  struggle  was  renewed 
in  966,  Byzantine  arms  completed  the  triumph  of  Byzantine 
diplomacy.  Kikephoros  Phokas,  John  Tzimiskes,  and  Basil 
II.,  by  successive  stages,  accomplished  in  the  next  half  cen- 
tury the  conquest  of  all  that  remained  of  independent 
Bulgaria,  and  restored  the  Danubian  frontier  of  the  Empire. 
Yet  the  conquest  was  perhaps  as  much  a  peaceful  as  a 
military  one.  Bulgarian  merchants,  even  in  the  time  of 
Simeon  and  Leo  IV.,  traded  at  Constantinople  and  Thessa- 
lonica ;  restrictions  on  their  rights  formed  an  excuse  for 
the  invasion  of  889  ;  and  the  more  the  Barbarians  saw  of 
Boman  life  and  manners,  the  more  powerless  they  became 
to  resist  the  manifold  attractions,  the  subtle  enervations,  of 


1  E.g.  in  S12,  Krum  attacked  Mes- 
embria  with  siege  engines  directed 
by  an  Arab  :  in  925  Simeon  signed 
a  treaty  with  the  Fatimite,  Al  Madhi, 


-  From  Trajan's  Bridge  westward, 
the  North  Danube  lands  fell  to  the 
Magj'ars  ;  east  of  this,  to  the  Petchi- 
uegs.     Cf.  Rambaud,  L' empire  grec, 


to  partition  the  Byzantine  Empire.        I    pp.  320,  323,  324,  329,  331-337. 


VII.] 


CONSTANTINE    ON    THE    HUNGARIANS 


481 


the  civilised  society  they  professed  to  despise.  Like  their 
Finnish  brethren  the  Magyars,  they  brought  with  them 
from  the  Urals  a  marked  capacity  for  a  higher  culture, 
for  a  settled  and  commercial  existence  as  well  as  fur  a 
military  and  roving  life.  Masters  of  the  ports  on  the  West 
Euxine  coast,  such  as  Odessos,  they  had  already  developed 
by  892  a  profitable  salt-trade  with  the  Moravians  ; l  and  for 
generations  they  played  a  notable  part  as  intermediaries 
between  German  and  Byzantine  trade.  They  may  perhaps  be 
credited  with  maintaining  '  Consuls  '  in  the  great  Byzantine 
markets,  during  the  later  years  of  Constantine  VII.  ;  in  any 
case,  their  representatives  were  admitted  to  the  Court  festi- 
vities with  an  honour  shown  to  no  other  envoys ;  and 
Liutprand'2  vainly  protested,  in  the  name  of  the  "Western 
Emperor,  against  the  precedence  accorded  to  this  most 
favoured  nation.3 

II. — Like  the  Bulgars,the  'black  swarm'  of  another  Finnish 
race  left  behind  it  an  older  settlement  in  the  Eastern  Volga 
basin ;  in  their  progress  to  South  and  West  the  Hungarians 
absorbed  into  their  eightfold  nationality  many  Russians, 
Komans,  Petchinegs,  and  even  Ishmaelites  (or  Moslem  Bul- 
gars,4  Khazars  and  Alans),  who  formed  in  later  time  a  com- 
pact colony  of  Unitarians  in  Pesth.  The  migration  and  final 
home  of  this  composite,  but  rapidly  unified,  people  was  a 
close  parallel  to  the  movements  and  locations  of  the  Avars, 


1   Codex  lUplom.  Morav.  52,  70-73. 

-  Of.  Liudprand  (Liutprand),  Lega- 
tion, eh.  19;  Constantine  Porphyro- 
gennetos,  Ceremonies,  i.  82  ;  ii.  120. 
4-30. 

'■'•  CI'.  Rambaud,  L'e-mpire  grec, 
346-358  ;  358-363.  This  was  at  the 
banquet  on  the  '  Feast  of  the  Holy 
Apostles.'   968.      The   Bxilgar  envoy 


was  shaved  in  Hungarian  fashion 
gilt  with  a  brazen  chain,  and  ap- 
parently a  catechumen.  Yet  this 
man  was  placed  above  the  bishop 
who  represented  the  Holy  Empire  of 
the  West. 

4  Otherwise  Bulgars  of  the  Volga, 
whose  conversion  to  Islam  occurred 
c.  920  a. n   ;  el'.  Masudi,  ii.  08. 


Ii    II 


482     . GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  [Ofl. 

three  centuries  earlier  ;  their  iuroads  carried  them  far  into 
Spain,  Italy,  and  Flanders  ;  yet  for  many  years  their  princes 
owned  the  suzerainty  and  received  the  investiture  of  the 
Khazar  Khan.1  Their  victory  over  Oleg  outside  Kiev 2  was 
a  passing  triumph,  the  forcing  of  a  barrier  on  their  west- 
ward march ;  but  in  destroying  the  Moravian  state  and 
cutting  short  the  Bulgarian,  in  planting  themselves  upon 
the  middle  Danube,  as  the  new  and  permanent  masters  of 
Western  '  Carpathia,'  they  changed  the  face  of  Eastern 
Europe,  thrust  a  wedge  between  the  Slavs  of  the  North 
and  South,  and  so  crippled  the  energies  and  blighted  the 
prospects  of  that  race  for  ages. 

To  the  Byzantines,  whom  they  saved  from  the  Bulgar 
deluge,  under  whose  '  patronage '  they  first  crossed  the  Car- 
pathians and  the  Danube  (888-889),  and  whose  Christianity 
they  seemed  to  favour,  they  were  never  so  repulsive  as 
to  the  nations  of  the  AVest.  One  Magyar  bravo 3  was 
famed,  or  fabled,  to  have  struck  his  battle  -  axe  into  the 
Golden  Gate  of  Stambul ;  and  the  Venetian  and  Dalmatian 
vassals  of  the  Empire  suffered  no  little  misery  at  their 
hands  ;  but  these  things  were  not  so  terrible  as  the  sack 
of  Bremen 4  and  St.  Gall ;  the  baptism  of  two  Hungarian 
princes  at  Byzantium  in  948  filled  the  Orthodox  with 
hope ;  and  before  the  mission  of  Piligrinus  in  973,  the 
Greek  Church  appeared  to  be  winning  as  valuable  a  triumph 
among  these  '  Gog-Magogs ' 5  in  the  West  as  the  conversion 


1  Cf.  Rambaud,  L'empire  grec,  346- 
351. 

2  Cf.   Nestor,    Chronicle,   a.   6406; 
'  Anonymus,'  ch.  8. 

3  Botuncl  by  name ;  cf.  '  Anonymus, ' 


their  barbarous  neighbours,  especially 
the  Moravians,  and  with  Constanti- 
nople, see  Be  Administrando  Imperio, 
chs.  3,  4,  13,  38,  39-42. 

This    name   was   very  generally 


ch.  42.  j  applied  in  these  times,  not  merely  to 

4  Cf.    Adam  of  Bremen,  i.  54  (43,  ,'  the  Magyars,  but  to  other  enemies  of 

Lapp.);  Annals  of  Corbey,  a.  d.  915;  on  J  Christendom,  or  even  of  Islam,  e.g. 

the  Magyars  and  their  relations  with  |  Vikings  :  cf.  the  term  Jlagioges,  ap- 


VII.]  CONSTANTINE    ON    THE    HUNGARIAN'S  483 

of  Olga  and  her  Russians  effected  in  the  East.  But 
appearances  were  deceptive ;  and  the  monk  Hierotheos,  sent 
by  Constantine  VII.,  and  consecrated  by  the  Patriarch 
Theophylact,  as  Orthodox  Bishop  of  the  Turks,  found 
his  career  impeded  and  his  prospects  threatened  at  the 
Hungarian  Court  by  a  Latin  emissary  from  the  West,  a 
monk  of  the  Black  Forest.  In  the  result,  it  was  only 
possible  for  the  Byzantine  to  secure  a  minority  of  the 
converts  ;  the  victory  of  Otto  the  Great  at  the  battle  of 
Augsburg  practically  decided  the  question  in  favour  of 
German  and  Latin  influences  ;  and  the  marriage  of  King 
Geysa  with  the  Polish  Adelheid  helped  to  increase  the 
predominance  of  Papal  Christianity.  The  education  of  St. 
Stephen,  a  determining  factor  in  the  future  of  Hungary, 
was  decisively  Latin,1  and  only  a  fraction,  though  a  large 
one,  continued  to  adhere  to  the  Eastern  Church.  Yet  the 
religious  buildings  of  the  Orthodox  Magyars  were  numer- 
ous and  splendid  ;  their  pilgrim  hospice  at  Constantinople 
rivalled  those  at  Eavenna  and  Pome  ;  and  the  Apostolic 
Crown 2  of  Hungary  itself  preserves  the  memory  of  Byzantine 
influence,  and  apparently  the  name  of  Constantine  VII. 

Xot  less  dramatic  than  this  later  encounter  of  Greek  and 
Latin  missionaries  at  the  Hungarian  Court  was  the  earlier 
meeting  of  envoys  from  Constantinople  and  Cordova  in  the 

plied  in  843  to  the  Northmen  who  recorded  upon  the  Crown  itself,  the 

attacked  Lisbon  (cf.  Dozy,  Mecherches,  lower  part  of  which  seems  to  he  of 

ii.  252-340  ;  Rambattd.  L'empire  grec  :  Greek,  while  the  arches  are  of  Koinan 

Conde,  Arabs  in  Spain,  Part  ii.  chs.  workmanship  ;    so    Count    Mailath, 

45,  49  (i.  239-291,  299).  Gcsch.  d.  Magyaren  (1823),  Anhang, 

1  Rambaud,    L'empire    grec,    362.  7.  from  personal  examination.     The 

363.  coronation-robe  of  Hungary  is  another 

-It  is  formed  of  two  Crowns,  erne  piece  of  mixed  workmanship,  partly 

given  by  the  Pope,  the  oilier  by  an  Byzantine,     partly    Arab.       It    was 

Emperor    Constantine    who    cannot  presented  in  1031   to  the  Church  of 

well    have    been    other    than    Con-  St.     Maty    at    Stuhlwissenburg    by 

stantine  VII.     This  last  is  expressly  Gisela,  consort  of  St.  Stephen. 


484       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

presence  of  Otto  I.,  after  the  battle  of  Augsburg.1  But  this 
encounter  was  wholly  amicable,  for  Greeks  and  Saracens, 
from  the  two  extremes  of  Europe,  joined  in  congratulations 
upon  the  overthrow  of  the  Magyars.  The  arrows  of  the 
Hungarians  had  troubled  the  frontiers  of  Galicia'2  and  Thrace 
alike  ;  yet  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula  they  had  appeared  rather 
as  freebooters  than  as  butchers ;  and  from  the  time  of  Nike- 
phoros  Phokas,  Hungarian  mercenaries  began  to  serve  under 
the  imperial  standards.3  The  commerce  of  the  Danube  basin 
and  of  the  Northern  Adriatic,  which  had  been  ruined  by  the 
Pagan  Magyars,  revived  under  the  first  Christian  Kings  of 
Hungary  ;  the  corn  of  the  Hungarian  plain  became  a  valu- 
able export  to  Constantinople ;  and  furs  and  iron 4  were 
exchanged  for  silks,  gems,  wines,  and  chased  armour.5  Mer- 
chants and  pilgrims  from  the  West  were  again  free  to  cross 
the  ancient  Dacia,G  as  they  had  not  been  for  seven  centuries, 
and  the  re-opening  of  this  new  avenue  gave  an  immediate 
and  considerable  impulse  to  the  Crusades.7 

III. — Constantine  VII.  is,  of  course,  supremely  valuable 

1   With    this  we  may  connect  the  ,  4  But  the  export  of  horses,  slaves, 

journey  of  Liutfrid,  a  rich  merchant  and  salt  was  strictly  forbidden  (Ram- 

of  Mainz,  to  the  Byzantine  Court,  as  '  baud,  361). 

Ambassador  of  Otto  I.,  in  949;  his  5  Some  of  this,  apparently  of  By- 
route  was  through  Venice ;  of.  Liud-  i  zantine  manufacture,  was  used  as 
prand,  Antapodosis,  in  Pertz,  M.  G.  :  early  as  the  Battle  of  Augsburg. 
SS.,  iii.  338  ;  and  Heyd,  Commerce  du  \  l!  Even  the  Great  Moravia  and 
Levant,  i.  80.  \  Greater  Bulgaria,  which  were  shat- 
-  Cf.  Masudi,  ii.  58,  64.  j  tered  by  the  Magyar  invasion,  did 
3  E.g.  in  968,  Nikephoros  Phokas  j  not  afford  the  same  securit^y  to  trade 
takes  forty  Magyars  with  him  to  Syria ;  j  and  travel . 

mi  the  other  hand,  Tzimiskes,  in  the  '  As  early  as  1092  Mohammedan 

battle    of    Silistria,    lights    against  merchants  are  also  found  in  Hungary  ; 

Magyars  allied  with  Russians,  Petehi-  I  cf.  Ladislai  regis  decretum,  i.  caj).  9, 

negs   and    Bulgars  ;    cf.    Liudprand,  !  noticed  in  Heyd,  Commerce  du  Levant, 

Legation  ;    Leo  the   Deacon,   vi.   12.  i.  83.    Earlier  than  this  an  Hungarian 

who  calls   them    Ovwoi  ;    Rambaud,  |  colony  is  settled  in  Constantinople,  for 

L'empire  grec,  360,  etc.  I  whom  St.  Stephen  builds  a  church. 


VII.]  CONST  ANTINE    ON    THE    RUSSIANS  485 

for  his  treatment  of  the  Russians.  Practically,  he  introduces 
this  people  to  European  literature  and  history  in  the  middle 
of  the  tenth  century,  just  as  Ibn  Foslan  introduced  them  to 
Moslem  and  Asiatic  notice  a  generation  earlier.  More  than 
a  hundred  years  were  yet  to  elapse  before  any  clearly 
articulate  voice l  comes  from  within  the  Russian  people 
itself,  in  the  shape  of  '  Nestor's '  Chronicle. 

It  is  plain,  from  the  Administration,  that  the  Byzantine 
chancery  was  fairly  well  informed  upon  the  geography, 
ethnology,  and  politics  of  the  new  Slavo-Scandinavian  tribes 
from  Kiev  to  Novgorod,  and  from  the  Carpathians  to  the 
Upper  Volga.2  The  Imperial  author  knows  the  names  and 
positions  of  the  chief  Russian  towns,  the  distances  between 
various  parts  of  the  country.  He  is  acquainted  with  the 
story  of  the  Varangian  immigration  of  Rurik  and  his  men  ; 
most  of  the  Slavic,  Finnish,  and  other  tribes3  who  owned  a 
vassalage  to  the  Grand  Prince  of  Kiev  are  to  be  found  in 
his  pages  ;  and  no  less  than  twenty-two  princelings  of  the 
Rurik  dynasty  occur  in  the  Ceremonies  as  joining  with  Igor 
to  sign  the  treaty  of  9-14.     He  is  even  capable  of  giving  us 


1  In c.  A. t>.  1110-1114.   'Nestor'is 

only  a  traditional  name  for  the  authors 
of  this  chronicle.  Except  possibly  for 
some    folk  -  songs,    and    the    pilgrim 


southern  part  by  the  K  bazars,  the 
Pecliinegs  controlling  all  south  of  a 
line  drawn  from  the  middle  of  the 
Carpathians  to  the  Dniepr  near  Kiev, 


narrative  of  Daniel  of  Kiev,  there  is   !    across  the  upper  waters  of  the  Sereth, 

no    earlier    monument    of    Russian   I    Pruth,  Dniestr  and  Bug. 

literature.  3  E.g.  Serbs,  Slovenes,  Drevlians. 


2  The  north-eastern  boundary  of 
the  Russian  tribes  at  this  time  may 
be  roughly  traced  from  the  source  of 


The  same  number  of  Varangian  sub- 
reguli  (22)  is  given  by  Nestor  (aim. 
6453)  in  reference  to.  this  treaty.     At 


the  Volga  to  Tver,  thence  south,  or  a  \    the  reception  of  Olga  (956  or  957) 

trifle   south-west,   to   about   Kaluga,  '    Constantine    Porphyrogennetos  hini- 

Orel  and   Kursk,   thence   south-west  self  {Ceremonies,  ii.  15)  made  presents 

to   the    Dniepr  a   little    below  Kiev  to  the  deputies  which  these  vassals 

Moscow   then    lying    outside    these  sent   in   the   train   of    the    Princess 

limits.)     Along  the  northern  part  of  !   Regent ;  cf.  also  Rambaud,  V empire 

this  line  the  Rus  principalities  were  grec,  366, 

bordered  by  Finnish  tribes,  along  the  ' 


480       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

a  good  sketch  of  the  social  system  which  had  super-imposed 
the  military  rule  of  a  few  Viking  aristocrats  upon  a  mass 
of  anarchic  and  quarrelsome  tribes  of  lower  race.  He 
traces  clearly  and  well  the  Itinerary  from  Novgorod  to 
Constantinople,  by  way  of  Smolensk,  Tchernigov,  Kiev,  and 
the  cataracts  of  the  Dniepr.  Of  these  famous  but  not  very 
formidable  waterfalls,  he  enumerates  seven  under  both  Slav 
and  Varangian  x  names ;  and  in  three  cases  his  terms  have 
survived. 

The  importance  of  Kiev  as  the  meeting-place  of  inland 
— especially  riverine — traffic,  and  the  value  of  the  Crimean 
coast,  of  the  Isles  of  St.  Gregory,2  of  the  Danube  delta,  of 
the  Bay  of  Varna  and  of  the  White  River  (of  Akkerman) 
in  the  Euxine,  as  half-way  stations  for  Eussian  and  other 
pirates,  are  not  forgotten.  Like  the  Anglo-Saxon  Kings,  the 
early  princes  of  the  House  of  Rurik  collected  tribute  and  fed 
their  Court  by  means  of  constant  progresses  ;  it  was  on  one 
of  these  that  Igor  was  killed  by  the  Drevlians,  an  episode 
which  became  famous  in  early  Russian  history  and  the 
theme  of  many  songs.  This  important  and  typical  custom  of 
princely  touring,  a  mixture  of  freebooting  and  tax-gathering, 
is  not  omitted  by  Constantine.3 

Our  author  (when  he  wrote  the  Administration)  could 
hardly  have  foreseen  the  complete  and  rapid  change  which 

1  Russian,  as  he  calls  them  (Ad-  \  especially  St.  Etherios,  which  also 
ministration,    ch.    9),   understanding       occurs  in  Nestor.     In  all  the  Ityzan- 


by  this  word  the  Scandinavian  aris- 
tocracy of  the  Eussian  lands.  In  the 
same  way  Constantine  Porphyro- 
gennetos  (Administration,  ch.  9) 
gives  for  Kiev  the  Slav  name  of  Kioba 


tine  treaties  with  the  Russian  princes, 
stipulations  were  inserted  against  the 
military  use  of  these  points  of  vantage. 
Cf,  Ranibaud,  L'empire  grec,  370. 
;i  De  Administrando  Tmjjerio,  ch. 


or  Kioaba  (-ava)  and  the  Scandina-  9.   Cf.  also  Leo  the  Deacon,  vi.    11, 

vian  term  of  Sambatas.     Cf.    Ram-  !    who  tells  how  Tzimiskes  in  Bulgaria, 

baud,  L'empire  grec,  364-366.  970  a. p.,  recalls  to  Sviatoslav  how  his 

2  Constantine       Porphyrogennetos  I    father  Igor  had  met  his  death  '  in  an 

(Administration,     ch.     9)     mentions  unjust  war  against  the  Gerjncms.' 


VII.]  CONSTANTINE    ON    THE    RUSSIANS  487 

Byzantine  Christianity  and  civilisation  would  effect  in  these 
cruel  and  detested  foes  of  the  Empire.  It  is  true  that  he 
records  the  journey  of  the  Princess  Olga  in  956  (or  957), 
but  he  does  not  allude  to  the  baptism  which  (in  the  ordinary 
tradition)  made  it  memorable  ;  nor  could  any  one  anticipate 
that  the  conversion  of  the  Regent  of  Kiev  would  so  speedily 
carry  with  it  that  of  the  whole  nation.  Up  to  this  time 
there  was  nothing  to  indicate  the  peculiar  connection  of  the 
future  between  Constantinople  and  the  Russian  people ; 
their  savage  and  daring  raids  upon  the  Bosphorus  —  of 
Askold  and  Dir  under  Michael  III.,  of  Oleg  under  Leo  VI., 
and  of  Igor  under  Romanus  Lecapenus — had  left  only  a 
memory  of  horror.  Their  attacks  on  the  Black  Sea  ports> 
and  especially  on  Cherson  or  Sevastopol,  dated  from  very 
early  times,1  were  a  constant  clanger,  and  kept  alive  the 
Byzantine  alliance  with  the  Petchinegs  and  Khazars,  masters 
in  name  of  all  the  Xorthern  littoral  of  the  Euxine.  The 
still  earlier  tradition  of  friendship  and  alliance,  instanced  by 
the  Russian  Embassy  of  839  (to  contract  an  alliance  with 
Theophilus  and  perhaps  even  with  the  House  of  Charles  the 
Great)2  had  been  disregarded  from  the  time  that  Varangian 
rule  was  firmly  planted  in  Kiev ;  and  of  all  the  heathen 
enemies  of  Eastern  Christendom,  no  single  tribe  (except  the 


1  E.g.  842,  S52,  854.  Cf.  Rambaud, 
L 'empire  grec,  371. 

2  E.g.  According  to  Nestor, 
Chronicle,  ami.  6360,  these  envoys 
of  the  Klmgan  of  the  Ilos,  making  a 
long  detour  to  avoid  the  Petchinegs, 
joined  the  company  of  some  Byzan- 
tine Ambassadors  on  their  way  to 
Louis  the  Debonnair,  and  so  came  to 
Ingelheim,  where  they  were  arrested 
as  Vikings,  relations  of  the  Northern 
Pirates  who  were  even  then  ravaging 
the  German  coast.  See  also  Annals 
of  St,  Bal in,  839  A.D.  ;  Liudprand, 


Antaiwdosis,  v.  6.  This  is  the  earliest 
certain  reference  to  the  Russian  name 
and  people,  and  that  on  its  Scandi- 
navian side  only.  Theophanes  in 
a  doubtful,  and  perhaps  corrupt, 
passage,  reckons  them  among  the 
Byzantine  allies  in  774,  but  this  is 
very  doubtful  ;  obviously  mythical 
is  the  story  of  Kij,  founder  of  Kiev, 
one  of  three  Slav  brothers  established 
on  the  Dniepr,  his  visit  to  Stambul. 
and  his  honours  from  its  Tsar,  long 
before  Rurik. 


488       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh 

1  friendly  '  Petchinegs)  seemed  more  irreclaimable.  Yet  time 
would  show  that  the  political  and  religious  traditions  of 
Byzantium  were  to  find  in  the  Russian  one  of  their  aptest 
pupils ; l  that  in  the  most  barbarous  of  the  Slavic  folks  the 
Orthodox  Church  would  acquire  its  firmest  bulwark  and 
most  powerful  missionary  ;  that  in  these  savage  foes  the 
civilisation  of  Europe  would  gain  a  new  rampart  against  the 
incursions  of  Asiatic  hordes. 

The  Scandinavian  restlessness,  the  Viking  capacity  for 
rapid,  effective  movement  over  vast  distances,  was  shown  not 
only  in  the  Eurikides'  repeated  dashes  upon  the  Bosphorus, 
by  way  of  the  Dniepr  and  the  Euxine,  but  also  in  their 
descents  of  the  Volga,  their  appearance  upon  the  shores  of 
the  Caspian  (as  in  913),  and  their  raids  as  far  as  the  mighty 
mountain-wall  of  the  Caucasus,  and  even  beyond  it,  for  in 
944  their  warriors  encountered  a  Moslem  foe  at  Berdaa  - 
near  the  modem  Elisavetpol.  And  the  same  qualities,  with 
different  applications,  are  to  be  seen  in  the  journeys  of 
Russian  envoys  and  princes  to  Germany  in  959,  973,  1040, 
1042,  and  1075  ;'i  as  in  the  commercial  wanderings  which 

1  Politically.  Venice  is  an  even  I  Sviatoslav.  See  Heyd,  Commerce  da 
better  pupil.  Levant,  i.  70,  and  pp.  262,  458,  461  of 

2  Of.  Masudi,  ii.  IS.  <>n  the  raids  j  this  volume  ;  also  Rambaud,  L' empire 
of  913  and  944,  and  the  alleged  early  \  grec,  374-379.  The  geography  and 
Russian  trade  to  Spain  (?),  Rome  (?).  trade  of  the  Russians  are  treated  in 
and  Syria  (?).   as  well  as   Khazaria.  j  chs.    2,    9,    13,    37,    42,  of   the   De 


Their  Syrian  intercourse  is  also 
noticed  in  a  somewhat  doubtful 
passage  of  Benjamin  of  Tudela  ;  in 
Ibn  Khordaclbeh,  ed.  Barbier  de 
Meynard,  Journal  Asiatique,  serie  vi. 
t.  v.  p.  514;  in  Constantine  Por- 
phyrogennetos  himself,  Be  Adminis- 
trando  Imperio,  p.  180,  ed.  Bonn  ;  as 
well  as  in  Nestor,  who  adds  Blctelc 
Bulgaria  to  the  countries  visited  by 
Russian  merchants.  Cf.  the  treaty  |  i.  79. 
of  971  between  John  Tzimiskes  and 


AdmiiustranJo  Imperio,  as  Avell  as  in 
ch.  4,  where  the  '  Turkish  '  Magyars 
are  also  treated. 

3  This  journey  of  1075  was  per- 
formed by  the  grand  prince  Jsiaslav 
or  '  Isaeslav,'  who  came  from  Kiev  to 
Mainz  to  ask  the  aid  of  the  Emperor 
Henry  IV.,  and  brought  with  him  a 
number  of  valuable  presents  for  that 
end  ;  cf.  Heyd,  Commerce  du  Levant, 


VII.]  CONSTANTINO    OX    THE   PETCHINEGS  489 

planted  the  Russian  trading  colony  of  St.  Manias  l  at  Stambul, 
and  brought  their  adventurers  to  the  fairs  of  Cherson,  of 
Trebizond,  of  Petra  in  Colchis,  and  of  the  Khazarian  Itil, 

near  tlie  site  of  Astrakhan.  For  of  these  enterprises,  as  of 
similar  mercantile  ventures  to  both  the  Bulgar  lands  (on  the 
Danube  and  the  Volga  alike),  and  to  the  marts  at  the  estuary 
of  the  Don,  there  can  lie  no  doubt;  even  if  we  discredit 
the  traditions  of  their  tenth-century  visits  to  Syria,  Spain, 
and  Italy. 

IV. — The  Petchinegs,  or  Patzinaks,  were  then  regarded  as 
the  most  powerful  nation  or  group  of  tribes  to  the  North  of 
the  Pontus ;  they  ruled  the  whole  country  between  the 
Tanais  and  the  Danube ;  northward  they  controlled  the 
Steppe  country  up  to  nearly  50°,  dominating  the  modern 
Podolia,  Bessarabia,  and  Ukraine  ;  and  they  are  treated  by 
Constantino,  in  the  first  eight  chapters  of  the  Administra- 
tion, with  marked  attention.-  Their  alliance,  as  we  have 
seen,  he  regards  as  of  vital  moment  for  the  Empire ;  to- 
gether with  the  more  suspected  but  less  barbarous  Khazars, 
they  commanded  every  opening  into  the  Euxine  from  the 
North ;  and  no  Varangian  raiders  could  descend  the  Don  or 
Dniepr  in  the  teeth  of  their  opposition  ;  unluckily,  they 
often  preferred  to  wait  till  the  plunderers  returned  from  the 
Bosphorus,  or  other  parts  of  '  Rumania,'  laden  with  booty. 
They  were  too  fond  of  gain,  moreover,  to  refuse  all  traffic  in 
horses,  oxen,  and  sheep  with  the  northern  bandits  in  whose 

1   In   10-13  a  serious  riot  occurred  war  that  followed.     A  similar  Russian 

I'i'tween  the  citizens  of  Constantinople  commercial    colony    seems    to    have 

and  the  Russian  merchants  trading  existed  at  Itil  in  the  tenth  century  ; 

in  the  city;   cf.   Cedrenus,   ii.   551;  '<    cf.  Masudi,  ii.  9,  11. 

Heyd,    Commerce   du   Levant,  i.    71.  2  Constantine     Porphyrogennetos, 

The  death  of  a  Russian  in  this  tumult  ,    Administration,  chs.  1-8. 
was  the  cause  of,   or  excuse  for.  the 


490       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh 

land  these  animals  could  not  breed ; l  otherwise  the  Russian 
marauders  might  almost  be  starved  into  submission. 

Two  chief  routes  led  into  the  country  of  the  Petchinegs  ; 
of  these  the  Eastern  path  started  from  Cherson,  and  was  the 
most  suitable  for  reaching  the  tribes  between  the  Don  and 
Dniepr  ;  the  Western  began  at  the  mouth  of  the  latter,  or 
at  the  estuary  of  the  Dniestr.2  These  worthy  and  useful 
allies  did  not,  however,  present  many  attractions,  save  to  the 
diplomatist  or  the  soldier  ;  six  ruined  cities  recalled  a  tradi- 
tion of  ancient  Greek  or  Eoman  settlements  ;  but  the  new 
masters  of  the  soil  were  Xomade  shepherds,  and  hated  town 
life,  as  they  hated  Christianity,  social  order,  and  the  morals 
of  settled  peoples.3  AYnether  cannibals 4  or  no,  their  alliance 
was  to  Constantine  all-important  for  the  safety  of  Cherson,  of 
the  Bosphorus,  and  of  the  entire  Euxine  ;  in  his  judgment, 
they  were  also  invaluable  as  guides  and  middlemen  for 
Byzantine  trade  in  Khazaria,  Russia,  or  the  Caucasus;5  and 
no  trouble  or  sacrifice  (except  the  secret  of  Greek  Fire)  was 
too  much  to  conciliate  their  friendship. 

Byzantine  diplomacy  had  already  used  them  with  telling 
effect  against  the  Greater  Bulgaria  of  the  ninth  century,  but 
as  a  defensive  instrument  against  the  Russians  they  were 
less  serviceable.  It  suited  their  interest  to  overrun  the 
Wallachian  and  Moldavian  lowlands  ;  it  did  not  suit  them 
ecpially  well  to  hinder  the  Vikings  of  the  North  from  forays 
against  the  Empire;  it  was  even  to  their  advantage  to  join 
in  any  well-organised  attack  upon  their  rich  ally.     Thus  in 


1  This  odd  statement  is  in  Be 
Administrando  Imperio,  ch.  2. 

2  Note  the  Slav  names  of  these 
rivers,  Aavcnrpi,  Aavaarpi,  in  Constan- 
tine Porphyrogennetos  {Administra- 
tion, ch.  8),  as  in  Carpini. 

3  Be  Administrando  Imperio,  c. 
37.     The  six  towns  are  called  Aspron, 


or  White  Stone  City,  Tnnkatai, 
Kraknakatai,  Salmakatai,  Sakakatai, 
Giaiukatai. 

i  So  Matthew  of  Edessa,  c.  85  (Du- 
laurier). 

5  Especially  Zichia,  or  the  land  of 
the  Zicci,  De  Administrando  Imperio, 
chs.  6,  42. 


VII.]  CONSTANTINE    ON   THE    KHAZARS  491 

934  they  were  to  be  found  beside  the  Hungarian  ravagers  of 
Thrace ;  in  944  they  followed  Igor  in  his  second  raid 
against  the  heaven-protected  city  of  Constantine  ;  in  970-971 
they  joined  Sviatoslav  in  that  great  onslaught  of  the 
Barbarian  upon  the  Civilised  World,  which  was  repelled  by 
John  Tzimiskes.  Eleventh-century  history  records  in  1026, 
in  1051,  and  at  other  times,  fresh  iucursions  of  these  highly- 
salaried  '  sheep-skins '  upon  the  lands  of  their  friend  and 
pay-master ;  and  the  persistent  forgiveness  shown  by  the 
Imperial  policy  in  their  case  can  only  be  explained  by  the 
overpowering  dread  of  the  Bulgars  at  Constantinople.  This 
danger  was  unquestionably  lightened  by  the  advance  of  the 
Petchinegs  to  the  Lower,  as  of  the  Magyars  to  the  Upper, 
Danube  ;  and  for  Byzantine  friendship  it  was  then  enough  to 
be  the  traditional  and  necessary  foe  of  the  subjects  of  Krum 
and  Simeon. 

Y. — The  Petchinegs  were  the  spoilt  children  of  the  Byzan- 
tine Chancery ;  the  Khazars,  on  the  other  hand,  though  a  far 
more  interesting  and  redeemable  nationality,  were  treated 
with  coldness  and  suspicion.  Yet  their  alliance,  if  sedulously 
fostered,  might  have  been  more  useful  than  that  of  the 
undependable  Nomades  to  the  Xorth  of  the  Danube.  The 
Judaism  of  their  kings,  the  Mohammedanism  of  a  large  part 
of  the  people,  and  the  natural  and  necessary  menace  (to 
Cherson)  implied  by  their  domination  in  the  Crimea,  probably 
contributed  to  this  reserved  attitude  on  the  part  of  the 
Christian  Caesars  in  the  tenth  century.  Yet  Heraclius, 
Justinian  II.,  and  Leo  the  Isaurian  l  had  not  disdained  to 
treat  of  alliances  with  the  Poyal  House  of  this  bravest  and 
most  cultured  nation  of  Scytliia  ;2  and  Leo  IV.,3  by  his  snr- 


1  On  behalf  of  his  son  Constantine 
V. 

2  Justinian  II.   married  a  sister  of 
the  Khazar  Khan  ;  Constantine  V.  a 


daughter    of   another    Khagan    and 
Kludun. 

'■'■  Son  and  successor  of  Constantine 
V. 


492        GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION        [Oh. 

name  of  'The  Khazar,'  confessed  his  origin,  and  bore  witness 
to  the  merits  of  both  Soman  and  Barbarian  stocks  ;  for  if 
the  one  was  worthy  to  give  an  Emperor  to  Constantinople, 
the  other  proved  its  power  of  government  over  so  many 
different  nations  by  a  marriage-policy  of  such  liberality  and 
wisdom.  Even  the  dress  of  the  Khazars  came  into  fashion 
at  Byzantium  soon  after  Leo  IV.1  But  in  the  time  of 
Constantine  VII.,  suspicion  had  taken  the  place  of  the  older 
friendship,  and  in  1016  the  Byzantines  found  themselves 
at  war  with  a  people  who  had  usually  respected,  and  some- 
times protected,  the  Soman  possessions  of  the  Chersonese  ; 2 
who  in  833  joined  with  the  Greeks  in  the  building  of  Sarkel, 
at  the  estuary  of  the  Don  ; 3  whose  soldiers  formed  a  regular 
contingent  of  the  imperial  army  ;  and  who  fought  under  the 
banners  of  Some  in  Italy,  in  Thrace,  in  Crete,  and  in 
Armenia.4  The  great  conqueror  of  the  Macedonian  House, 
not  satisfied  with  his  overthrow  of  the  Bulgarians  and  his 
subjugation  of  Armenia,  crushed5  the  Khazar  Empire,  in 
alliance  with  Vladimir  of  Kiev  and  the  savage  tribes 
beyond  the  Volga,  almost  at  the  same  time  that  the  dominion 
of  the  Petchinegs  began  also  to  decline.  The  realm  which 
under  King  Joseph  (c.  948  A.D.)  had  reached  from  the 
Caspian  to  the  Volga  near  Tver,  from  the  delta  almost  to  the 


1  Constantine  Porphyrogennetos, 
Ceremonies,  i.  1. 

,J  And  left  their  name  to  the  Crimea 
as  Gazarla,  or  Khazaria.  Cf.  Rubru- 
quis,  j>.  214. 

3  For  the  better  protection  of  the 
Azov  sea-board.  Sarkel  seems  to  have 
stood  on  the  south  side  of  the  Tanais 
estuary,  a  little  below  the  later  town 
of  Azov. 

4  Cf.  the  forty-seven  Khazars  who 
took  part  in  the  South-Italian  expedi- 
tion in  the  regency  of  Romanus 
Lecapenus  ;     Constantine   Porphyro- 


gennetos, Ceremonies,  ii.  44.  The 
Bulgarian  Tsar  Simeon,  after  his 
victory  in  889,  furious  to  find  Khazars 
fighting  against  him  (Kazar  was 
traditionally  the  brother  of  Bulgar), 
cut  olf  all  their  noses.  The  Khazar 
contingent,  as  a  picturesque  element 
in  the  Byzantine  army,  was  con- 
stantly on  show,  especially  at  the 
reception  of  foreign  envoys  ;  cf,  Con- 
stantine Porphyrogennetos,  Cere- 
monies, ii.  15. 

5  Cf.    Nestor,    Chronicle,    eh.    12; 
Cedrenus,  ii.  464. 


VII.]  CONSTANTINE    ON    THE    KHAZARS  493 

source  of  the  greatest  European  river;1  which  had  established 
a  kind  of  order  and  civilisation  from  Eupatoria  to  Derbent ; 
which  stamped  its  name  for  many  ages  on  the  Crimea,  the 
Euxine,  and  the  Caspian  ;  -  and  which  claimed  tribute  from 
nine  tribes  on  the  Volga,  fifteen  nations  of  the  Caucasus, 
and  thirteen  peoples  of  the  Black  Sea  littoral,"  was  now 
reduced  to  an  uncertain  and  miserable  existence  in  the 
Steppes  of  the  Kuban  and  the  Terek.  Even  in  the  time  of 
Constantine  VII.  the  Khazar  Empire  had  been  reduced  by 
almost  half  its  area,  and  the  Imperial  diplomatist  was 
probably  the  less  inclined  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of 
these  Barbarians,  as  he  had  witnessed  the  steady  shrinkage 
of  their  power.  In  the  eighth  century  their  western  frontier 
had  been  marked  by  the  Carpathians  and  the  Dniestr ; 
northward  their  rule  had  extended  over  all  the  lands  here- 
after known  as  Kussian.  A  little  later,  by  a  singular  error 
of  policy,  they  dislodged  the  Petchinegs  from  the  Steppe  lands 
of  the  Lower  Volga  and  the  neighbourhood  of  Itil ;  but  the 
only  result  of  this  was  to  plant  these  same  enemies  more 
firmly  to  the  west  of  the  Don. 

Four  chief  cities  seem  to  have  flourished  in  the  Khazaria 
of  the  tenth  century.  First  came  Itil  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Volga,  the  political 4  and  commercial  capital  of  the  country, 

1  Though  interrupted  in  the  middle  i  the  limits  of  the  Khazar  power.  The 
course  by  Old  or  Great  Bulgaria,  j  Black  Sea  was  also  called  at  times 
which  controlled  the  river  from  about  ;  after  the  Khazars.  See  Rambaud, 
Nijni  Novgorod  to  below  Samara.  '    L' empire  grec,  39-1. 

2  Commonly  called  'Sea  of  the  3  So  King  Joseph  boasts  to  Chasdai, 
Khazars/  especially  in  the  Aral)  Vizier  of  Abderrahman  III.  of  Cor- 
( Geographers,  e.g.  Masudi,  ii.  19,  dova.  Even  the  Magyars,  during  most 
edition  of  Barbier  de  Meynard  and  of  the  tenth  century,  accounted  them- 
Pavet  de  Courteille  ;  Hm  Khor-  >  selves  vassals  of  the  Khazars. 
dadbeh,  pp.  471-472  ;  Edrisi,  ii.  332,  4  Joseph's  letter  to  Chasdai  speaks 
ed.  Jaubert  ;  cf.  also  Nestor,  under  :  of  three  royal  residences,  but  Ilil 
6472-3    a.m.  =964-5    A.D.  ;    6367=  I    seems  to  have  been  the  chief. 

S99  ;  6370  =  862;  6292-3  =  884-5,   on    | 


494       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

in  a  position  where  (as  shown  by  the  present  Astrakhan)  a 
great  city  seems  marked  out  by  natural  conditions.1  Here  Ibn 
Foslan  (in  about  920  A.D.)  found  thirty  mosques  ;  a  number  of 
synagogues,  baths,  and  bazaars ;  and  a  royal  palace  of  brick, 
in  the  midst  of  a  great  collection  of  felt  tents  and  clay  huts. 
Here,  too,  Arab  merchants  met  with  the  distant  Bulgarians  of 
the  North 2  and  Eussians  of  the  North-west ;  boats  descended 
from  the  Kama,  the  Oka,  and  the  Volga,  or  put  in  from  various 
parts  of  the  Caspian ;  all  found  security  and  a  ready  market 
under  a  Jewish  ruler.  The  other  towns, — Taman  or  Tama- 
tarcha,  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  Greek  colony  of  Phanagoria; 
Bosporos  or  Panticapaeum,  on  the  other  or  European  side  of 
the  Strait  of  Kertch  ;  and  Sarkel8  or  the  White  House,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Don,  answering  to  the  Hellenic  Tanais,- — were  all 
on  the  site  of  Greek  Colonies  or  outposts ;  and  besides  these 
we  have  in  Arab  authors  the  names  of  some  lesser  settlements 
in  uncertain  positions.4 


VI. — Byzantine  relations  with  the  Arabs  of  East  and  West 


1  To  the  south-west  of  Astrakhan 
the  ruins  of  Madchar  are  conjectured 
to  preserve  a  trace  of  a  Magyar  settle- 
ment, planted  here  and  abandoned  in 
the  course  of  the  Hungarian  move- 
ment from  the  Ob  and  the  Urals  to 
the  Danube. 

2  From  this  point  men  journeyed 
up  the  Volga  to  Bolghar,  near  Kazan, 
not  only  for  trade,  but  sometimes  for 
the  sake  of  seeing  the  marvel  of  a 
'  Midnight  Sun. '  This  was  a  special 
object  of  Ibn  Batuta  (who  also 
purposed  a  sledge  journey  to 
the  Arctic  Ocean)  in  the  fourteenth 
century. 

3  Built  by  the  Khazars  in  alliance 
with  Petronas  and  a  Greek  force  sent 
by  the  Emperor  Theophilus  in  S33  ; 
here  the  exceptional  policy  of  taking 


measures  against  the  Petchinegs  was 
followed. 

4  One  called  'Khazar,'  another 
Semender,  another  Bilandiar  or 
Balandiar :  Semender  is,  perhaps, 
Edrisi's  Semmur  on  the  Caspian, 
some  fifty  miles  from  Derbent.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  while  the 
Khazar  kings  were  Jewish,  while 
many  of  the  people  were  Christians 
(by  the  time  of  Constantine  Porphyro- 
gennetos),  and  while  their  relations 
with  Byzantium  were  important,  still 
the  mass  of  the  nation  seem  to  have 
been  Mohammedan,  and  their  inter- 
course with  Bagdad  on  one  side,  and 
with  Khwarezm  or  Khiva,  Samarcand, 
etc.,  on  another,  was  even  more  pro- 
minent than  with  the  Eastern  Empire. 
Of.  Masudi,  Meadoios  of  Gold,  eh.  17. 


Vti.]  constantine  ON  THE  ARABS  495 

were  normally  governed  by  a  policy  of  friendship  towards 
the  more  distant,  of  hostility  towards  the  nearer  and  more 
dangerous.  An  active  commercial,  intellectual,  and  diplo- 
matic intercourse  subsisted  between  Constantinople  and 
Cordova;1  the  Ceremonies  record  how  a  Spanish  (Moslem)'2 
embassy  arrived  in  the  Bosphorus  in  946  ;  Liudprand 
mentions  another  on  his  first  visit  to  the  Imperial  City  in 
950,  just  as  he  notes  his  meeting  in  Venice  with  a  Byzantine 
envoy,  Salamon  the  eunuch,  returning  from  Spain  (94S  or 
949).  A  common  fear  of  the  Hungarians  may  explain  some 
of  these  missions;  for  Salamon,  on  this  same  journey  to  the 
West,  had  also  visited  the  Court  of  Otto,  the  great  foe  and 
future  queller  of  the  Magyars.  But  a  more  obvious  reason 
may  perhaps  be  found  in  the  Greek  schemes  of  crushing  the 
Mohammedan  pirates  of  Crete,  for  which  the  friendship  or 
neutrality  of  the  Spanish  Moors,  elder  brothers  who  had 
stayed  at  home,  was  obviously  desirable.  At  all  events,  this 
purpose  is  clearly  discernible  in  the  legation  of  949  3  (when 
Stephen  the  Ostiarius,  with  a  squadron  of  three  ships,  sailed 


1  Another  evidence  of  the  wide- 
spread interest  of  Spanish  Moslems 
may    be    found    in    the    travels    of 


us  of  Tortushi's  visit  to  Mainz, 
speaks  of  the  spices  of  India  and 
the  Far  East — pepper,  ginger,  cloves, 


Abubekr     Mohammed,     of    Tortosa  galangale,     etc.  —  being    obtainable 

(hence    surnamed    '  Tortushi ')   born  ;  in    that     city  ;      of.      Wiistenfeld's 

in  1059,  who  (sometime  before  1083)  edition    of   Kazwini,    pp.    350,    etc., 

visited   Mainz,    where    he    saw   and  ;  1843. 

described     some     silver     coins      of  2  There   is   no    clear    evidence    of 

Samarcand,    struck    in    913-915    by  [  intercourse     at     this    time    between 

the    Samanid   prince  Nassr  II.,  son  Byzantium   and  the  Christian  kiug- 

of     Ahmed.       Cf.      Quatremere     in  j  doms  of  Spain,    but   some    of  these 

Journal  A siatiquc,  seric  v.,  t.   xvii.,  I  embassies  may   of  course   have  conic 

pp.   147.  etc.  ;    Frahn,   Memoircs  dc  •  from  the  latter. 

V Academic   dc  St.   Pdtersbourg,  seric  i  3  For  in  this  very  year,  949,  occurred 

vi. ,  sciences  politiques,  t.   ii.,  pp.  87,  the  great  attempt  of  Constantine  VII. 

etc.     (1834)  ;    Heyd.     Commerce    du  '  to  recover  Crete,  which  failed  ;    Nik. 

Levant,    i.    50.    79-80.      After   1083  :  Phokas     succeeded     in     960,     while 

Tortushi   settled   in    Egypt    for   the  i  Abderrahman  III.  was  still  reigning 

rest  of  his  life.     Kazwini,  who  tells  !  (912-961). 


49 6       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION 


[Ch. 


to  '  Iberia,')  and  perhaps  in  that  from  which  Eabbi  Chasdai 
gleaned  his  information  of  the  Jewish  dynasty  reigning  in 
Khazaria  (c.  958  a.d.).1 

It  was  probably  by  agreement  with  Abderrahman  III 
that  the  Byzantine  iieet  joined  with  Hugh  of  Provence  to 
extirpate  another  nest  of  Saracen  pirates  at  Eraxinetum 
about  941  ;  just  as  in  916  the  league  of  Pope  John  X.,  King 
Berengar  of  Italy,  and  the  Empress  Zoe,  had  cut  out  a  third 
cancer  from  the  body  of  Christendom,  by  destroying  the 
brigands  of  the  Garigliano  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Borne 
itself. 

With  the  Fatimites  of  Africa,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
was  incessant  trouble ; — a  wearisome  but  indecisive  struggle 
in  South  Italy  was  ended  for  a  time  by  the  mission  of  John 
Pilatus  in  951  ;2  but  there  remained  the  haunting  terror  of  a 
joint  attack  from  Bulgarian  soldiers  and  '  Barbary '  sailors 
upon  the  very  heart  of  the  empire.  The  faithful  Calabrians  in 
925  captured  the  ambassadors  of  Simeon  and  Al  Madhi, — the 
former  returning  from  a  successful  mission  to  the  Infidel, — ■ 
sent  them  to  Constantinople,  and  thus  enabled  Lecapenus 
to  avert  the  danger  by  skilful  diplomacy  and  the  prompt 
payment  of  a  liberal  subsidy.0 

In  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  the  struggle  between 
Byzantines  and  Saracens  (of  the  Abbasside  or  Bagdad  obedi- 
ence), continued  obstinately  throughout  the  tenth  century. 
Geographically,  there  is  a  certain  interest  in  the  steady 
advance   of  the  '  Boman '  armies   into  the   Armenian   and 


1  Of.    Rambaud,     L'empire    grec, 
406-407  ;  Liudprand,  Antapodosis,  vi. 

2  ;  Constantine  Porphyrogennetos, 
Ceremonies,  ii.  15,  45,  48.  The 
Administration,  ch.  25,  shows  a  good 
acquaintance  with  the  three  main 
divisions  of  the  tenth-century  Mos- 
lem   ('  Syrian  ')    world    under     the 


Abbasside,   Fatimite,  and  Onimeyad 
Caliphs  or  'A/.Lep/j.ov/j.ve'is. 

2  The  war,  however,  broke  out 
again  in  956,  when  a  storm  destroyed 
the  Arab  fleet  oft'  Palermo.  Cedrenus, 
ii.,  359-360. 

3  Cf.  Cedrenus,  ii.  356-357. 


VII.]  CONSTANTINE    ON    THE    VASSAL-STATES  497 

Caucasian  regions  from  about  925.  When  the  tide  had  once 
turned,  it  ebbed  fast ;  for  two  centuries  it  had  borne  up  the 
Unitarians,  after  a  first  hundred  years  of  rushing  and  resist- 
less victory  ;  now  it  receded  from  Erzerum  1  and  the  Lake  of 
Van,  from  Iberia  or  Georgia,  from  the  Upper  Euphrates, 
from  the  whole  Armenian  plateau.  In  Crete  (as  in  Cyprus), 
Islam  still  held  its  own ;  the  Greek  attack  of  940  in  vain 
marshalled  against  it  Kussians,  Armenians,  Petchinegs, 
Khazars,  and  other  allies  or  mercenaries  from  the  most 
distant  regions ;  but  the  re-conquest  of  both  islands  was  only 
retarded  for  a  decade. 

VII. — The  Vassals  of  the  Empire,  as  surveyed  by  Con- 
stantine  VII.,  form  a  ring  of  defensive  outworks,  a  series  of 
buffer-states,  protecting  the  Roman  world — or  that  fragment 
of  it  which  still  remained  effectively  subject  to  Constanti- 
nople— from  the  full  brunt  of  barbarian  attack.  On  the 
other  hand,  to  a  more  ambitious  policy,  they  appeared 
as  distant  dependencies  needing  constant  support,  as  advance- 
posts  from  which  Imperial  authority  might  be  re-established 
in  lost  provinces,  as  protectorates  which  a  spirited  policy 
might  transform  into  possessions. 

Five  chief  groups  of  vassal  states, — the  Italian,  Dal- 
matian, Crimean,  Armenian,  and  Caucasian, — extended  the 
influence  and  the  nominal  supremacy  of  the  Byzantines  from 
Sardinia  to  Georgia  and  the  basin  of  the  Kur.  When  the 
Ceremonies  and  Administration  were  compiled,  the  great 
western  island  had  practically  fallen  away  from  the  Christian 
cause  and  the  standard  of  the  Caesars  ;  yet  even  in  968 
Xikephoros  Phokas  included  among  his  servants,  as  he  de- 

1  Arzen  or  Theodosiopolis,  captured  these     campaigns,      cf.      iiamband, 

in  928,  and  949,  by  the  Greeks,  and   '  L'empire  grec,  pp.  422-427. 
hold  by  them  till  after    1071.      On 

2  T 


498       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  [Oh. 

clared  to  Liudprand,  the  archon  of  Sardinia,  as  well  as  the 
rulers  of  Amalfi  and  Gaeta,  of  Venice  and  Naples,  of  Salerno 
and  Capua.1  For  the  most  part,  however,  these  vassals  (even 
the  Croats  and  Serbs  of  the  '  Sirmian  isthmus '  and  the  towns 
of  the  pirate-haunted  Dalmatian  coast)  obviously  belong 
to  the  better-known  European  and  Christian  world,  and  can- 
not even  be  considered  as  lying  on  the  outskirts  of  it.  The 
Byzantine  relations  with  them  do  not  therefore  possess  any 
definite  geographical  interest,  except  as  connected  with  the 
commercial  movements  of  the  Mediterranean  towards  outer 
regions,  which  have  been  already  noticed.  The  customary 
journeys  of  Venetian  Doges  and  sons  of  Doges  to  Constanti- 
nople, and  their  receptions  and  honours  in  the  Imperial 
town  (receptions  and  honours  which  were  viewed  as  a 
confirmation  of  their  present  authority  or  future  prospects) ; 
the  joint  efforts  of  Venice  and  Byzantium  to  put  down 
the  Croatian  and  Dalmatian  piracy  which  so  often  inter, 
rupted  the  diplomatic  and  mercantile  connections  between 
the  Suzerain  of  the  Bosphorus  and  her  ally  of  the  Lagoons ; 
the  Saracen  raids,  which  compelled  the  disobedient  Eagnsa 
(as  in  871),  to  implore  the  aid  of  its  mistress;  the  dim  and 
curious  history  of  the  Strategoi  of  Dalmatia,2  their  revolts3 

1  Archons,  of  the  first  pair;  dukes  !  '  Notitia  Dignitattim '  the  Strategos 
or  doges,  of  the  second  ;  princes,  of  '  of  Dalmatia  ranked  with  the  Strate- 
the  third.  Of.  Liudprand,  Legation,  |  gos  of  Cherson  ;  cf.  Constantine 
c.  27  ;  Constantine  Porphyrogen-  |  Porphyrogennetos,  Ceremonies,  ii. 
netos,  Ceremonies,  ii.,  48  ;  Rambaud,  I  50,52.  Maius,  under  Basil  II.  (986), 
V empire  gree,  439-441,  441-450.  :  is  Prior  of  Zara  as  well  as  Proconsul 

2  On  this  Adriatic  and  especially  !  of  Dalmatia  ;  and  he  seems  to  have 
Illyrian  history,  cf.  Rambaud,  L'em-  '  been  Strategos  when  about  998  the 
pire  grce,  pp.  450-484  ;  especially  i  protection  of  the  Empire's  Dalmatian 
444,  457,  460,  472-474,  480,  481-482.  j  subjects  and  the  policing  of  the 
Even    the    Graeco-Istrian    town    of  Adriatic  was   committed   to    Venice, 


Justinianopolis  is  accused  before  the 

Suzerain  of  piracy  in  933  (by  Venice). 

3  Such   as   that  headed  by  Paul 

of  Zara   in  806  ;   in    the    Byzantine 


as  when,  after  the  completion  of  his 
Bulgai'ian  triumphs,  Basil  II.  resumed 
Ids  sovereignty  ;  Lucius,  ii.  4-P, 


VII.]         THE    DALMATIAN    AND    CRIMEAN    VASSALS  499 

and  their  submissions ;  the  tribute  paid  by  various  little 
groups  of  South-Western  Slavs x  either  to  the  Eastern 
Emperor  direct,  or  to  Venice  as  representing  the  Empire  ; 2 — 
all  testify  to  the  wide-reaching  but  vague  character  of  Byzan- 
tine pretensions ;  they  do  not  show  the  influence  of  Con- 
stantinople penetrating  into  that  outer  world  with  which 
exploration  was  concerned. 

Something,  however,  of  a  more  definitely  civilising  and 
geographical  character  accompanies  the  Imperial  connec- 
tions with  the  Crimea,  the  Caucasus,  and  Armenia.  The 
ancient  Greek  colonies  on  the  North  and  East  coasts  of 
the  Pontus  still  continued  (in  some  instances)  to  act  as 
advance-posts  of  civilisation  in  the  tenth  century  after, 
as  in  the  fifth  century  before,  Christ.  But  the  glory  of 
Bosporos  or  Panticapaeum  (the  modern  Kertch),  of  Olbia 
(at  the  mouth  of  the  Bug),  even  of  Odessos  (near  the  site 
of  the  present  Varna),  had  been  eclipsed  by  Cherson 3  which 
in  the  tenth  century  rivalled  Trebizond  as  the  leading- 
port  of  the  Euxine,  and  continued  firm  in  its  Byzan- 
tine traditions  till  the  eleventh  century.  Here  the 
Emperors  Maurice  and  Basil  L,  Leo  VI.  and  Constantine 
VII.,  Eomanus  II.  and  Nikephoros  Phokas,  Alexius  and 
Manuel  Comnenus,  coined  money.4  Here  Themistos 
governed  in  the  time  of  Diocletian,  Diogenes  in  that  of  Con- 
stantine I. ;  to  this  place  were  exiled  Pope  Martin,5  various 
enemies  of  Leo  IV.  and  of  Theophilus,  and  (most  notable  of 
all)  Justinian  II.,  afterwards  the  city's  mortal  enemy,  whose 

1  As,  for  example,  those  of  Krka  I  4  Cf.  De  Saulcy,  Essai  de  classifica- 
ancl  Osero.  ;  tion,    plates    iv.     xviii.-xxi.    xxvii.- 

2  See  Monumenta  spcctantia  his-  j  xxviii.  ;  on  Cherson,  cf.  Constantine 
toriam  Slavorum  meridionalium,  j  Porphyrogennetos,  Administration, 
1868.  |  oh.  53  ;  Rambaud,  L'empire  grec,  pp. 

3  The  Russian,  though  not  the  '•■  484-494,  especially  484-435,  486-489, 
Byzantine  'Sevastopol.'  5  In  654, 


500       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch- 

onslaught  for  the  moment  threw  it  into  alliance  with,  and 
subjection  to,  the  Khazars.  On  Cherson,  in  reward  for  its 
many  sendees,  the  great  Justinian  conferred  exemption 
from  all  imposts,  and  Constantine  VII.  expressly  reaffirms 
these  privileges x ;  we  have  already  noticed  his  suggestion  of 
this  port  of  call  as  the  best  route  for  diplomatic  and  other 
missions  from  Constantinople,  on  their  way  to  Khazars, 
Petchinegs,  or  Russians.  Here  the  Greek  language  was  main- 
tained :  here  the  Barbarian  invader  was  kept  at  bay ;  behind 
its  massive  walls  of  squared  stones  the  Ionic  columns  of  the 
ancient  Cherson  perpetuated  the  memory  of  a  past  which 
the  ephemeral  Nomade  could  not  but  dimly  reverence. 
Goths,  Avars,  Turks,  Uzes,  Huns,  Bulgars,  Petchinegs, 
Khazars,  Komans,  '  Scythians '  of  every  kind  and  name, 
successively  wandered  across  the  plain  outside  the  ram- 
parts of  this  eternal  city,  gazed  upon  its  towers,  threatened 
its  defenders,  and  disappeared  in  distance  and  oblivion  ;  but 
sixteen  centuries  witnessed  the  Greek  Colony,  beside  the  finest 
of  Euxine  harbours,  still  maintaining  its  Hellenic  tongue, 
blood,  and  allegiance,  its  Hellenistic  Christianity,  its  racial 
distinction,  and  its  commercial  prosperity  : — 

'  A  Homer's  language  murmuring  in  its  streets, 
And  in  its  haven  many  a  mast  from  Tyre.' 

As  the  Middle  Ages  drew  on,  the  importance  of  Cherson 
declines ;  under  the  Comneni  it  is  of  small  account ;  but  in 
the  time  of  Constantine  VII.  it  appears  (like  Zara  in  Dalmatia), 
as  the  seat  of  an  Imperial  Strategos  or  Proconsul.  Bosporos 
had  long  deserted  the  cause  of  Greece  and  Pome,  dropping 
its  classic  name,2  affording  a  ready  welcome  and  good  market 
to    Pontic    Pirates,   and    enriching   itself   with  the    plunder 


1  Justinian,  Norellae,  113,  ch.  2  ; 
Constantine  Porphyrogennetos,  De 
Adininistrando     Imperio,     ch.     53, 


'Icrropla  ire  pi   rod  K&ffrpov  XepcrcDyoj, 
-  Panticapaeum, 


VILj  THE    CRIMEAN    VASSALS    OF    BYZANTIUM  501 

of  the  Roman  coasts;  it  had  been  recovered  for  a  short  time 
by  Justin  I. ;  but  now,  in  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century, 
it  was  definitely  a  Khazar  town.  Tanais,  at  the  estuary  of 
the  Don,  no  longer  survived;  its  place  was  taken  by  Sarkel 
or  by  Rosia ;  Phanagoria,  opposite  Bosporos  on  the  Taman 
side  of  the  Strait  of  Kertch,  perished  as  a  Hellenic  town 
in  the  sixth  century,  and  had  only  of  late  revived  as  Matrica 
or  Tamatarcha,  so  famous  under  the  Comnenian  dynasty ; 
Odessos,  Istriopolis,  and  the  other  outposts  of  the  old 
civilisation  to  the  west  of  the  Crimea  had  all  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  Bulgars  or  Petchinegs.  Cherson  alone  remained 
from  this  shipwreck  of  Pontic  Hellenism,  thanks  in  part 
to  the  energetic  measures  of  Justin  I.,  of  the  great  Justinian, 
and  of  Theophilus.  The  latter  sovereign,  besides  building 
Sarkel  (in  alliance  with  the  Ivhazars)  as  a  barrier  against 
Petchineg  incursions,  replaced  the  old  Republican  and  semi- 
independent  government  in  '  St.  Clement's  town,'  by  the 
Byzantine  provincial  administration,  and  inaugurated  the 
rule  of  Strategoi,  in  addition  to  the  Proteuontes  and  Archontes 
of  the  past  (c.  a.d.  838).1  More  than  ever  the  city  now 
became  an  advance-post  of  Constantinople  in  the  Scythian 
world,  a  watch-tower  against  all  movements  of  the  Northern 
barbarians.  But  the  Imperial  government  was  never  very 
tyrannical  at  Cherson;  the  status  of  vassal-city  was  never 
entirely  exchanged  for  that  of  subject-town.  Yet  Constantine 
VII.  directs  the  seizure  of  all  the  Jcardbia  of  the  port  in  case  of 
revolt,  the  stoppage  of  supplies,  and  the  imprisonment  of 
captured  Chersonese ;  their  prosperity  depended,  he  believes, 
upon  their  position  as  carrying-traders  between  the  Empire 
and  the  Steppes  ;  and  his  view  was  too  well  founded  for 
any  permanent  breach  to  subsist.  From  Cherson  the 
Byzantines  had  the  first  news  of  a  Russian  descent  of  the 
1  Cf.  De  Administrando  Tmpcrio,  ch.  42  ;  Ceremonies,  ii.  .r>0 


502       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

Dniepr,1  or  of  any  other  movement  among  the  nations  of  the 
North  Pontic  Regions.  All  diplomatic  intercourse  with 
'Scythia'  was  managed  through  the  medium  of  Cherson, 
and  by  Chersonese  advice;  it  was  a  native  of  this  city2  who 
conducted  the  delicate  negotiation  by  which  Nikephoros 
Phokas  drew  on  the  Russians  to  attack  Bulgaria. 

The  tenth  century  Byzantines  therefore  cannot  be  accused 
(as  Strabo  accuses  the  Augustan  Romans)  of  neglecting  their 
Black  Sea  interests,  even  in  the  far  outlying  Crimea.  All 
the  three  Russian  treaties  of  the  '  Macedonian '  Dynasty — 
with  Oleg,  with  Igor,  and  with  Sviatoslav — expressly  provided 
for  the  safety  of  Cherson  ;  the  Barbarian  chiefs  swore  by  the 
Gods 3  of  the  Slavs  that  Korsiln  should  be  left  in  peace  ;  the 
treaties  with  the  Khazars  contained  similar  stipulations  ; 
and  the  distrust  of  these  '  royal  Scythians,'  shown  in  the 
pages  of  Constantine,  seems  to  have  been  based  upon  a 
conviction  that  they  were,  after  all,  the  most  dangerous  of 
possible  aggressors  in  Taurica.  Alans  of  the  Caucasus, 
Russians  of  the  Dniepr,  Bulgars  of  the  Kama  and  Middle 
Volga,  were  all  salaried  by  Constantinople  against  the  day 
when  '  Khazaria '  should  attempt  to  sweep  the  Romans  into 
the  sea.  At  Cherson  the  Khazar  tongue  was  spoken  as 
much  as  Greek,  and  at  certain  times  (as  when  the  fury  of 
Justinian  II.  threatened  the  city)  a  Khazar  governor4  with 
a  strong  garrison  held  its  walls  and  forts.  But  most  of  the 
Barbarians  around  were  interested  in  the  fate,  and  anxious 
for  the  prosperity,  of  the  city.     The  Zicci  of  the  Kuban,  the 


1  Cf.  Nestor,  eh.  27. 

2  Kalokyr,  son  of  a  Proteuon  of 
Cherson;  cf.  Leo  the  Deacon,  iv., 
9  ;  Cedrenus,  ii.  372.  Chersonites 
probably  had  exceptional  qualities  as 
navigators  and  sea-warriors  from  their  j  A.M.  6415-6420,  6458. 
experience  of  the  stormy  Euxine  and    '        4  E.g.  one  named  Tudun 


of  naval  dangers  ;  cf.  Liudprand's 
account  of  Michael,  commanding  for 
Nikophoros  Phokas  at  Corfu,  in  958 
(Legation,  end). 

3  E.g.  Perun  and  Volos,  cf.  Nestor, 


VII.] 

Highlanders  of  the  Caucasus,  and  even  the  brutish  Petchinegs 
of  the  Steppes,  were  to  be  found  in  its  markets,  and  exchanged 
furs,  hides,  and  honey,  for  the  silks,  linens,  muslins,  purples, 
pepper,  spices,  and  brocades  of  Byzantium  and  the  South.1 
After  the  days  of  Constantine  VII.,  both  Sviatoslav  and 
Vladimir  I.  of  Kiev  seem  to  have  gained  possession  of 
Chcrson,  but  neither  injured  it;  for  the  citizens  (according 
to  Leo  the  Deacon)  had  themselves  invited  the  Russian 
Princes,  partly  from  discontent  at  the  Imperial  rule,  partly 
from  desire  for  autonomy.  It  was  a  Christian  priest, 
Anastasius  by  name,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Kiev,  who  opened 
the  gates  to  Vladimir  ;  on  his  conversion,  the  concpieror  built 
a  Church  in  the  city,  and  professed  to  hold  the  place  in  right 
of  his  Byzantine  wife. 

This  Russian  leasehold,  however,  like  the  Khazar  occupa- 
tion, proved  but  temporary  ;  and  in  spite  of  such  occasional 
lapses,  Cherson  retained  the  aspect  of  a  Greek  settlement, 
and  a  certain  real  connection  with  the  Empire,  down  to  the 
close  of  the  twelfth  century.'2  To  the  religious  world  it  was 
venerable  as  the  traditional  scene  of  the  martyrdom  of  St. 
Clement ;  here  Cyril,  the  Apostle  of  the  Slavs,  stayed  to 
learn  the  language  of  the  Khazars  before  entering  their 
country;  and  here  he  discovered  the  bones  of  a  Saint y 
who  was  to  become  one  of  the  Patrons  of  the  Slavonic 
world.  Like  Bosporos,  Cherson  was  the  seat  of  a  Bishop  or 
Archbishop;4  the  Chersonites  were  eager  proselytisers ;  and 
their  occasional  acceptance  of  Barbarian  rule  may  perhaps 


1  Constantine  Porphyrogennetos, 
De  Adiniaistrando  Imperio,  chs.  6, 
53. 

2  In  1190  Eupeterios,  the  '  illus- 
trious General  and  Duke  of  Cherson,' 


3  Clement. 

4  Cf.  Constantine  Porphyrogen- 
netos. Ceremonies,  ii.  54,  which  adds 
Nikopsis  (about  half-way  between 
the      present      Novo-Rossiisk      and 


figures  in  the  Byzantine  epigraphy,    j    Sukh urn- Kale)  as  a  third  See  in  the 
Bockh,   Inscript.    Christ.,   No.    8740,    !    '  eparchy '  of  Zichia. 
also  Xos.  8742,  8757. 


504       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch. 

be  explained  by  this  missionary  enthusiasm,  which  main- 
tained an  active  ecclesiastical  intercourse  with  Kiev,  and 
perhaps  with  Itil.  But  from  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  the  colony  sinks  into  complete  obscurity ;  first 
Sudak  and  then  Kaffa1  drain  away  its  trade  and  wealth 
and  people  ;  and  in  the  sixteenth  century  its  walls  and 
towers,  and  public  buildings,  with  their  marble  and  serpen- 
tine, stood  like  the  edifices  of  a  magic  city  in  the  Arabian 
Nights,  without  a  living  soul  to  use  them. 

In  Armenia  and  the  Caucasus,  as  in  the  Crimea,  Con- 
stantine  VII.  throws  real  light  into  the  darkness.  Since  the 
rise  of  the  Caliphate  the  civilised  world  had  been  almost 
confined  to  Arab  notices  of  these  regions  for  the  maintenance 
or  extension  of  the  knowledge  which  classical  learning  had 
bequeathed ;  and  until  the  Byzantine  revival,  under  the 
Macedonian  or  Armenian  dynasty,  scarcely  anything  was 
done  for  the  description,  the  exploration,  or  the  civilisation 
of  these  regions,  from  the  Greek  or  Eoman  side.2  But  from 
the  regency  of  Komanus  Lecapenus  (himself  of  Armenian 
race,  and  probably  well  acquainted  with  the  Armenian 
language),  an  active  and  profitable  intercourse  was  re-opened 
between  Byzantium  and  the  Ibero-Arinenian  lands.  Thus 
King  Aschod,  suzerain  of  all  the  Armenian  principalities, 
comes  to  the  Bosphorus  to  beg  for  the  aid  of  Constantine 
and  Zoe  against  the  Arabs ;  in  923  the  Marshal  or  Curorpalata 
of  Armenia,  also  appears  at  Court;  about  the  same  time  arrives 


1  Theodosia. 

2  The  travels  and  descriptions  of 
Sallam  the  'interpreter'  (841-846 
a.d.),  reported  by  Ibn  Khordadbeh 
and  Edrisi ;  of  Ibn  Foslan,  in  921  ;  of 
Masudi,  in  943-946  ;  of  Al  Isstakhri, 
about  951  ;  and  of  Ibn  Haukal,  at 
various  times  between  942  and  972  ; 
are  the  chief  Moslem  works  dealing 


with  these  countries  before  the 
Crusades.  Sallam  is  thought  by 
some  to  have  reached  even  beyond 
the  Bashkir  country;  Ibn  Foslan 
probably  did  not  go  beyond  Bulgar 
and  the  lower  Kama ;  the  last  three 
at  most  touched  the  lower  Volga 
region  (Itil,  etc). 


II.] 


THE    ARMENIAN    VASSALS    OF    BYZANTIUM 


.05 


an  Iberian  functionary  of  the  same  title,  one  Aderneseh  ;  and 
nearly  all  the  members  of  the  great  House  of  Daron  make 
similar  journeys.1  On  the  other  hand,  Byzantine  agents — 
diplomatists,  interpreters,  or  dragomans — were  constantly 
maintained  in  Armenia  ; 2  and  Byzantine  Generals,  in  the 
victorious  advance  of  Constantine's  later  years,  possessed 
themselves  of  many  of  the  chief  strongholds  of  the  country, 
such  as  Erzerum.3  The  same  time  is  also  full  of  treaties  and 
agreements,  the  results  of  Byzantine  diplomacy.  Thus  in  920 
the  Patriarch  John  VI.  writes  to  Nicolas,  the  Holiness  of 
Constantinople,  to  beg  the  aid  of  Constantine  VII.,  his  former 
pupil ; 4  the  Princes  of  Armenia  and  Iberia,  not  belonging  to 
the  favoured  House  of  Daron,  express  a  pained  surprise  at 
the  exclusive  favour  shown  to  the  latter;  the  nature  of  the 
Byzantine  tenure  at  Erzerum  is  defined  by  treaty ; 5  and  the 
threatened  occupation  of  Adranutzion  (whose  capture  by 
the  Patrician  Constantine  is  immediately  announced  at 
Byzantium,  and  recorded  in  the  Imperial  archives)  is  warded 
off  by  a  remonstrance  from  the  Georgian  chieftains.6 


1  On  the  Armenian  journeys  to, 
and  relations  with,  Byzantium  in  the 
time  of  Constantine  Porphyrogen- 
netos,  see  De  Administrando  Im- 
perio,  chs.  46,  45,  44,  43. 

2  E.g.  Sinutes,  Constantine  Krin- 
ites,  Constantios,  Theodores,  etc. 
John  Kurkuas  or  Gurgen,  the  captor 
of  Erzerum,  and  himself  of  Armenian 
race,  was  the  leading  figure  among 
the  Roman  military  leaders  on  the 
eastern  frontier  at  this  time. 

3  Otherwise  Karin  or  Theodosio- 
polis. 

4  Cf.  the  History,  chs.  100,  101, 
107,  108,  of  John,  the  Catholic,  or 
Patriarch,  of  Armenia  in  question. 
The  letter  of  Nicolas  is  short  and 
business-like;  it  urges  Armenians  to 
forget     their    divisions    and     unite 


against  the  enemy  of  their  faith,  join- 
ing with  the  Kings  of  Iberia,  Abasgia, 
and  Albania;  the  two  former  of  these 
have  already  been  exhorted  to  the 
same  effect  from  Byzantium ;  the 
Hhhpt  ror  crovmed  of  God  will  send 
imposing  forces.  John  writes  at 
great  length  to  thank  the  Emperor 
for  his  support.  All  Armenia 
desires  the  alliance  of  the  Emperor; 
if  any  do  not,  they  are  not  of  Christ's 
fold. 

5  Especially  with  the  Iberian 
Princes,  who  were  somewhat  jealous 
of  any  other  power  at  Karin 
(Erzerum). 

G  The  Iberian  chancery  must  have 
bi  en  a  wonder  for  the  time,  repeatedly 
producing  for  the  information  of  the 
Byzantines    documents     which     the 


506       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

After  the  Arab  disaster  at  Palermo  had  relieved 
Byzantine,  anxieties  in  the  West,  the  new  Eastern  policy 
was  vigorously  seconded  by  a  fresh  mission  ;  the  suscepti- 
bilities of  Bagdad  were  ignored  ;  and  an  imperial  Embassy 
brought  presents  of  splendid  lamps  to  the  tomb  of  St. 
Thomas  in  the  valley  of  the  Eur.1  Times  had  changed 
since  the  Armenian  Princes  had  been  content  with  the 
protection  and  suzerainty  of  the  Caliph  ;  under  Basil  T.  they 
had  begun  to  seek  once  more  the  Roman  investiture  as  well 
as  the  Arabian  ;  during  the  tenth  century  this  divided  alle- 
giance passed  into  one  reserved  for  the  Basileus  alone.2 

Under  Constantine  VII.,  the  Armenian  and  Iberian 
archons,  the  lesser  chiefs  of  Colchis  or  Abkhasia  on  the 
Euxine,  of  Albania  on  the  Caspian,  of  Vaspuragan  to  the 
east  of  Lake  Van,  of  Gogovid  or  Gokovid  3  in  the  region  of 
Ararat,  are  often  bound  to  the  empire  rather  in  a  religious 
than  in  a  political  obedience.  The  latter  is  still  capable  of 
various  interpretations,  and  may  still  at  times  be  divided 
between  Bagdad  and  Stambul ;  but  as  the  '  spiritual  sons ' 4 


latter  have  not  preserved ; — e.g.  a 
treat}1'  signed  by  Romanns  Lecapenns 
and  by  Constantine  VII.  ;  cf.  JJe 
Adminisirando  Imperio,  chs.  46.  45, 
43. 

1  Ramband,   Uempire    grec,    432  ; 
Contin.  Constantine  VII.,  eh.  32. 

2  Basil  II.  completed  the  victory, 
and  raised  European  influence  in  the 


Catholic  asserts  the  existence  in  the 
Caucasus  of  Chekhs,  Serbs,  Croats, 
Bulgars,  as  ■well  as  innumerable  other 
races.  On  the  nine  Armenian  and 
five  Iberian  vassals  of  the  Empire,  cf. 
Constantine  Porphyrogennetos,  Cere- 
monies, ii.  48 ;  De  Adminisirando 
Imperio,  chs.  43,  44,  45  :  Rambaiid, 
L'empire  grec,  507-515. 


Armenian  plateau  and  the  Caucasian  !  4  Cf.  Constantine    Porphyiogenne- 

isthmus  to  its  zenith,  as  far   as  the  tos,  Ceremonies,  ii.  48,  and  a  letter  of 

earlier  Middle  Ages  are  concerned.  John    Tzimiskes    to     Aschod     III., 

3  Also  of  Moex    or  Mogh,  to  the  '  archon  of  archons,  or  supreme  head 

South  of  Van  and  Mount  Niphates  ;  of  |  of  the  Armenian  chiefs,  as  head   of 

Vaitzor  or  Sisagan  in  the  mountains  |  the    Bagratid    or     Pagratid    House, 

of  Siunia  ;  of  the  Serbots  or  Black  j  whose   residence    "was   at  Ears   from 

Children ;  and  of  Khatsen  or  Artsakh  j  92S  to  961,  at  Ani,  from  961  to  1041. 

adjoining  Sisagan  and  Lake  Geghar-  \  Cf.  J\I atthew  of  Edessa,  eh.  16. 

ma.      As  to   the   Serbots,    John  the  I 


VII.]  THE    GEORGIAN    VASSALS    OF    BYZANTIUM  507 

of  Gonstantine  Augustus,  as  officers  in  the  army  of  that 
1  Soldier  of  God  crowned  by  Jesus  Christ,'  the  position  of  these 
princes  is  clearly  defined ;  they  are  members  of  the  Church 
whose  earthly  head  was  the  Caesar-Pontiff  of  Byzantium. 

Both  politically  and  ecclesiastically,  Georgia  or  Iberia 
stood  apart;  it  owned  no  subjection  to  Armenia,  and,  unlike 
the  latter,  its  orthodoxy  was  unimpeachable.  Its  rule  ex- 
tended south-west  into  the  Chorok  valley,  and  included  the 
harbour  of  Batumi,  but  (then  as  now)  the  real  seat ]  of  the 
Georgian  state  and  nation  lay  in  the  basin  of  the  Kur  and 
the  plain  of  Titiis. 

Among  all  these  vassal  princes,  and  their  more  distin- 
guished subjects,  the  Byzantine  Court  distributed  titles, 
pensions,  honours,  and  promises ;  some  even  possessed  their 
town-houses 2  or  property  in  Constantinople ;  the  scholarly 
distinctions  of  Doctor  in  Medicine,3  or  in  Philosophy,  were 
employed  to  reward  the  loyalty  of  others ;  but  sharp 
reproaches  were  always  ready  for  those  vassals  who  had 
been  backward  in  good  works  ;  and  Constantine  VII.  deals 
very  faithfully  with  a  Daronite  kinglet  and  an  Iberian 
Marshal,  who  were  suspected  of  preferring  an  Arab  to  a 
Greek  master  at  Erzerum. 

As  the  tenth  century  advanced,  and  the  power  of  the 
Caliphate  and  of  Levantine  Islam  as  a  whole  was  more 
sensibly    weakened,    the    Byzantines    took    up    a    stronger 

1  Rambaud,  L'empire  grec,  512-514,   |    to  be   more   than  the   St.   Denis   of 


notes  at  least  five  Iberian  or  Ar- 
menian principalities  not  noticed 
by  Constantine  Porphyrogennetos ; 
among  these  Gabau  and  Harar  appear 
the     most     important ;     Varnjnani, 


Georgia. 

2  One  called  the  House  of  the  Bar- 
barian was  owned  by  Gregory  the 
(Taronite  or)  Daronite  ;  De  Acl- 
ministrando  Imperio,  cb.  43. 


Andsevatsi  and  Aghdsnikh  are  more  I  3  'Apxiarpds  and  viraros  <pi\ocru(pwi> . 

obscure.    Mtzkhet,  the  ancient  capital  The    former   title   was   given  to   the 

of  the  Iberian  people  in  the  fourth  i  famous     physician,     Leo,    by    John 

and  fifth   centuries,   had  long  ceased  I  Tzimiskes. 


508       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch. 

and  more  imperious  position,  and  occupied  many  of  the 
strategic  points  which  the  Administration  enumerates  l  to  the 
West  and  North  of  the  Lake  of  Van.  The  wild  Highlands 
of  the  Ararat  plateau  became  well  known  to  Greek 
soldiers  and  statesmen,  as  they  had  been  to  few  since 
Xenophon  ;  and  it  was  here  that  in  1071  Romanus  IV.  faced 
the  advancing  Turks  on  the  fatal  day  of  Manzikert.  Con- 
stantine  VII.  had  witnessed,  if  he  had  not  consented  to,  the 
evacuation  of  the  Georgian  Adranutzion  by  his  generals, 
and  even  to  the  seizure  of  Erzerum  by  the  Iberians ;  in  943, 
the  attempt  of  the  Orthodox  or  Byzantine  party  to  consecrate 
a  church  in  the  royal  town  of  Kars,  according  to  their  rite, 
was  defeated  by  heretic  Armenians.  But  Nikephoros  Phokas 
and  John  Tzimiskes  compelled  a  more  respectful  attitude ; 
the  latter  exacted  a  loyal  and  effective  service  from  his 
Armenian  allies  in  his  Eastern  wars  ;  and  Basil  II.,  every- 
where pursuing  his  policy  of  conquest,  occupied  the  Iberian 
province  of  Taikh,2  and  the  Armenian  province  of  VaspuraQan; 
seized  many  of  the  fortresses  so  ineffectually  coveted  by 
his  grandfather ;  and  placed  Daron,  Ani,  and  most  of  the 
allied  territories  under  Byzantine  governors.  For  a  short 
time  the  chroniclers  of  the  Empire  could  describe  the  new 
provinces  with  a  facility  and  thoroughness  of  opportunity 
given  by  political  domination. 

The  alliance  in  faith  and  arms  was  accompanied  by  a 
certain  commercial  intercourse  ;  Adranutzion  is  praised  by 
Constantine  VII.,  not  only  as  a  military  position,  but  as  a 
market  well  placed  at  the  meeting  of  routes  from  Iberia, 
Abkhasia,  the  Trebizond  coast,  and  all  parts  of  the  Armenian 

1  Kars,  Ani,   Erzerum,   Manzikert,    I  Impcrio,  44,  45,  46.     All  these  places 

Adranutzion  or  Ordchenharjh,  Percri,    ]  were  attacked,  and  most  of  them  were 

Khelath,     Ardshish,     Mastat.     and   j  captured,  by  Basil  II. 

Almic,  near  Erzerum,  were  the  chief  j  2  Considered  to  represent  all  Iberia, 
of    these.       Cf.    Dc    Admim'strando   | 


VII.]  THE    CAUCASIAN    VASSALS    OF    BYZANTIUM         509 

highland.1  The  manufactured  products  of  skilled  Greek 
workers  (vases,  instruments  of  music,  purple  and  gold  stuffs) 
were  exchanged  here  and  elsewhere  for  the  raw  materials 
which  alone  were  to  be  had  in  this  poor  barren  land. 

The  ceremonial  influence  of  Byzantium  was  still  more 
clearly  felt  ;  the  petty  courts  of  Ani,  Kars,  Mush,  Van, 
and  Tiflis  imitated  the  ritual  and  ornaments,  the  dignities 
and  procedure,  of  Constantinople.  Georgia  had  its  c/aro- 
palatae  and  protospathairoi ;  the  former  of  these  were  in 
constant  correspondence  with  the  Imperial  Court,  as  directors 
of  Iberian  policy ;  while  one  of  the  latter  (then  an  official 
named  Zurbaneles)  is  recorded  to  have  paid  a  visit  to 
the  Bosphorus 2  in  the  later  years  of  Constantine  VII. ; 
he  seems  to  have  been  charged  with  a  regular  diplomatic 
mission  (c.  952  a.p.) 

In  the  remote  highland  of  the  Caucasus  itself,  at  the 
Western  foot  of  which  Greek  settlements  had  been  planted 
at  such  an  early  age,  and  where  the  Byzantines  maintained 
a  slender  foothold  till  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century,3 
Constantine  mentions  three  chief  vassals  of  the  Empire,  the 
Alanian,  Abasgian,4  and  Albanian  princes.  The  two  latter 
are  constantly  found  in  alliance  with  Constantinople 
against  the  Arabs ;  the  Albanians  distinguished  them- 
selves by  their  enthusiasm  for  Orthodoxy  and  the  Greek 
rites  against  Armenian   pravity  ;  an  Archbishop  of  Alania 

1  Cf.  De   Administrando  Imperio,  3  Greek  was  still  spoken  in  Larica 

c.  46  ;  Rambaud,  L'empire  grec,  521.        in  the  sixth  century,  thanks  to  Greek 


2  Like     the     Iberian     curopalata, 

Adraiiaseh,  or  Aderneseh,  in  about 
923  ;  (cf.  Dc  Adminisfrrando  Imperio, 
c.  45,  apparently  composed  in  952)  ; 
perhaps  this  was  one  of  many  visits, 


mei-chants  ;    cf.    Rambaud,   L'empire 
grec,  485. 

4  Or  '  Abkhasian.'  Abkbasia,  like 
Armenia.,  had  its  Patriarch  or 
Catholic,  and  Constantine  Porphyro- 


mostly   unrecorded,    on   the    part    of  gennetos.     Ceremonies,    ii.    48,    gives 

such  officials.  Adranaseh  had  received  the  formula  of  address  for  this  ecclesi- 

the  dignity  of  '  Curopalata '  from  the  I    astic. 
Emperor  Leo  VI, 


510       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

is  recorded  by  Leo  VI.,1  at  the  opening  of  the  tenth 
century.'2  Leo  the  Isaurian  in  710,  Thomas  the  Usurper 
in  802,  both  appealed  to  the  loyalty  of  these  '  children 
and  dear  allies '  ;  under  Constantine  VII.  they  received  a 
subsidy  for  helping  to  guard  Cherson  and  threatening  the 
rear  of  the  K bazars. 

In  this  country  of  Caucasia, — where  every  branch  of  the 
human  family  had  its  representative  ;  where  every  wander- 
ing nation  and  every  exiled  race  left  a  fragment  of  itself ; 
and  where  the  varieties  of  language  were  '  known  only  unto 
God,' — it  would  be  difficult  indeed  to  follow  out  the  lesser 
tribes  of  the  Byzantine  obedience.3  The  Zicci  and  Cir- 
cassians of  the  West  or  Euxine  coast  (two  famous  races  who 
stand  on  a  very  different  footing  from  the  Mokan,  whom 
Constantine  so  strangely  places  by  the  Maeotid  Marsh,  or 
Sea  of  Azov),  were  well  known  to  the  Byzantines  ;  but  they 
do  not  occur  in  the  list  of  Caucasian  vassals  given  us  in  the 
Ceremonies.  Yet  the  Circassians  were  regularly  visited  by 
the  merchants  of  Trebizond,  and  as  regularly  frequented  the 
annual  fairs  of  the  Black  Sea  ports,  where  '  Bomans,' 
Moslems,  and  Armenians  met  together ; 4  while  the  Zicci 
possessed  a  distinct  value  in  Byzantine  policy  as  a  check 
upon  the  rear  and  flank  of  the  Xhazars.     Christianity  had 


1  In  his  Hypot y posis. 

2  But  in  932,  according  to  Masudi, 
II.,  43,  its  misguided  people  drove 
out  their  prelates,  and  broke  off 
communion  with  the  Church  of 
Ohrysostom. 

3  The  Krebatades,  the  Kedonians 
(perhaps  a  tribe, — the  Jidans  of 
Masudi, — who  lived  near  the  Khazar 
town  of  Semender),  the  Tzanarians 
between  Tiliis  and  the  Pass  of 
Derbent,  the  Sarban  (or  Serbians  ?), 
and  so  forth.  Add  the  Archons  and 
peoples  of  Ohrysa,   Vretza  (in  Kak- 


hetia),  Mohan  and  Azia  (or  Ossetia, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Caspian 
Gates  or  Pass  of  Dariel).  On  the 
Caucasian  vassals,  cf.  Constantine 
Porphyrogennetos,  Ceremonies,  ii., 
48  ;  Dc  Achninistrando  Imperio,  10, 
11;  Eambaud.  V 'empire grec,  524-527. 
Some  of  these,  the  Sarban,  for  in- 
stance, are  placed  by  Constantine  in 
the  North-Central  part,  others  to- 
wards the  East,  of  the  Caucasian 
chain. 

4  Ibn   Haukal,    in    d'Ohsson,    Lea 
peuples  d>i  Caucase,  p.  26, 


VII.]  THE    ARAB    VASSALS    OF    BYZANTIUM  511 

declined  in  the  Caucasus  since  the  days  of  Justinian  :  Islam 
had  made  many  converts  and  boasted  of  more  ; l  some  tribes 
still  practised  their  ancient  nature- worship,  or  the  cult  of 
Fire ;  others  observed  a  selection  of  Jewish,  Moslem,  and 
Christian  beliefs  and  rites  ;  but,  nevertheless,  the  religious 
tie  was  a  strong  one,  even  in  the  tenth  century,  between 
these  regions  and  the  capital  of  Eastern  Christendom. 

The  Arabian  vassals  of  the  Empire,  some  of  whom  are 
placed  by  the  Ceremonies  in  Egypt,  Persia,  and  Khorasan, 
while  others  are  evidenced  by  the  diplomacy  of  the  Mace- 
donian House  in  Syria  and  Mesopotamia,  are  not  of  any 
great  geographical  interest.  Basil  T.,  in  his  campaigns 
against  the  Manichaeans  of  Tephrice,  received  the  submission 2 
of  the  Arab  town  of  Taurus  or  Tarax,  and  the  principality  of 
Locana ;  both  these  were  enrolled  as  allies  of  the  Empire. 
A  little  later,  an  Arab  emir  near  Adapa,  under  Komanus  I., 
the  Emir  of  Melitene,  submitted  to  Byzantium.  John 
Tzimiskes,  the  conqueror  of  Jerusalem,  Damascus,  and 
Edessa,  had  a  great  number  of  Arab  servants  ;  his  letter 
to  Aschod  III.  of  Edessa  (a.d.  971)  is  famous ;  but  in  all  this 
we  only  hear  of  well-known  localities,  far  within  the  borders 
of  Moslem  civilisation. 

VIII. — The  Subjects  of  the  Byzantine  empire,  in  distinction 
from  the  Neighbours  and  Vassals  of  the  same,  offer  compara- 
tively little  of  geographical  interest ;  nor  is  the  survey  of 
Constantine  VII.,  in  his  treatise3  on  the  Themes,  or  military 

1  E.g.    the   Jidan  (or   Kedonian  ?)  ,  King  of  Gurj   or  Georgia,    reigning 

Kings,  living  near  the  Gate  or  Pass  |  over  Christian  subjects,  sounds   most 

of  Derbent  ;   also  the  rulers   of  the  i  improbable,    and     is    without     con- 

Kaitaks;  cf.  Masudi,  ii..  39,  -40,  i3,  (irmation. 

45-46.      The   Circassians   were    Fire-  2  Rambaud,  L'empire  greo,  528--529. 

worshippers,    according    to    Masudi.  :;  Cf.     Rambaud,     L'empire    grcc, 

Ibu   Haukal's  story   of  the   Moslem  175-253. 


512       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

subdivisions  of  the  European  and  Asiatic  Provinces,  as 
useful  as  his  treatment  of  the  neighbouring  and  vassal 
nations.  It  is  noteworthy,  however,  both  from  his  pages 
and  other  sources,  that  the  New  Eome,  at  the  end  of  the 
first  millennium  of  Christian  history,  still  showed  something 
of  that  cosmopolitan  character  which  had  marked  the  rule  of 
the  Pagan  Caesars.  Latins  and  Teutons  from  the  West, 
from  the  Italian  and  Dalmatian  Themes,  and  from  the 
countries  beyond  the  Byzantine  limits ;  Arabs  from  East, 
West,  and  South  alike  ;  Armenians  and  Iberians  ;  Turks  and 
Finns  ;  Slavs  and  Caucasians — all  found  a  place  in  the 
service,  in  the  armies  and  fleets,  even  in  the  hierarchy, 
of  the  state.  '  Like  the  College  of  Cardinals,'  the  official 
nobility  of  Constantinople  was  '  recruited  from  the  nota- 
bilities of  the  world.' :  Once  baptised,  the  barbarian  was 
admitted  in  theory,  often  in  practice,  to  the  dignities  of 
State  and  Church  alike.2  Among  the  troops  led  by  Belisarius 
and  ISTarses  had  been  Goths,  Heruli,  Vandals,  Lombards, 
Persians,  Moors,  and  Huns  ;  Thomas  the  Rebel  and  Usurper,  in 
his  rising  against  Michael  II.,  is  followed  by  Indians,  Persians, 
'  Assyrians,'  Zicci,  and  countless  nationalities  of  the  Caucasus  ; 
the  legions  of  Constantine  VII.  and  his  successors,  Xike- 
phoros  Tzimiskes,  and  Basil  II.,  include  Varangians  or  Eusso- 
Scandinavians,  Magyars  and  Khazars,  as  well  as  Prankish, 
Slavonic,  Bulgarian,  Venetian,  Amalfitan,3  and  '  Patzinakian  ' 3 

1  Rambaud,  V  empire  grec,  531-540.  Catalans.    Rambaud,  276-277,  doubts 

2  In  spite  of  RambaucVs  caution,  the  Petchinegs,  as  being  such  ob- 
L'empire  gree,  276.  we  may  probably  stinate  Pagans.  The  Empire  pre- 
reckon  among  the  Byzantine  Mer-  ferred  to  enrol  Christian  soldiers 
cenaries  Sabaeans,  Shamanists,  Odin-  among  its  Barbarian  troops.  But 
ists,  and  Nature  Worshippers,  even  from  the  language  of  Constantine 
a  few  Jews  and  Moslems.  VII.,    one   can    hardly    doubt    that 

3  Cf.  Liudprand,  Legation,  p.  357  his  most  valued  allies  fought  in  the 
(Partz),  on  the  Italian  troops  ;  '  Byzantine  armies  as  well  as  in  the 
Nikeph.     Greg.,      vii.      3,     on      the  Byzantine  cau*o. 


VII-J  COSMOPOLITAN     BYZANTIUM  513 

auxiliaries.  Under  the  Comneni,  Spanish  Catalans  fight 
for  the  Eastern  Rome  in  Asia  Minor.  The  great  names 
in  Byzantine  military  history  are  more  often  '  barbarian ' 
than  not :  from  the  Armenian  Narses  and  Basil  I.,1  John 
Griirgen  and  Nikephoros  Phokas,  to  the  Spanish  Guzman 2 
under  Constantine  XI.  (1066),  the  Slav  generals  of  Basil  I. 
and  Leo  VI.,  and  the  Frankish,  Scandinavian,  or  Russian 
captains  who  served  Constantine  Monomach  and  Michael 
Stratiotikos  in  Georgia  and  Armenia,  in  Mesopotamia, 
and  in  Asia  Minor.2 

Above  all  did  the  Empire  profit  from  its  absorption  of 
two  races,  Slavs  and  Armenians.  To  the  former  belonged 
Justin  I.  and  his  dynasty,  as  well  as  a  part-interest  in  the 
Macedonian  House  ;  to  the  latter  a  preponderating  share  in 
the  blood  of  the  Basils,  of  the  family  of  Nikephoros  Phokas, 
of  John  Tzimiskes,  of  the  Regent  Romanus  Lecapenus. 
Even  Michael  III.,  whom  Basil  I.  displaced  in  867  (in  order 
to  found  a  mainly  Armenian  dynasty,  lasting  for  two 
centuries),  was  himself  a  '  half-blood  '  of  the  same  nationality. 

The  poor,  half-educated,  barbarian  peasant  appears  again 
and  again  in  Byzantine  history  upon  the  very  throne  of  the 
Caesars  ;  beginning  as  an  immigrant  settler,  and  soon  finding 
an  employment  suitable  for  his  native  energy,  he  drifts  to  the 
great  city,  to  the  palace-guard  or  ministry,  to  the  immediate 
surroundings  of  the  Emperor ;  he  becomes  the  trusted,  indis- 
pensable adviser  and  protector  of  a  weary  debauchee,  or  a 
superstitious  invalid  ;  thus  finally  he  reaches  the  summit. 
Short  of  this,  he  or  his  descendants  fill  the  highest  offices  of 
government — in  State  and  Church  ;  the  patriarchate  is  not 
withheld  from  the  scholar  and  the  devotee  ;  the  supple  and 

1  Basil  I.  must  also  be  considered 
as  partly  Slav.  Basil  II.  is  of  course 
descended  from   this    Armeno-Mace- 


2  Cf.  Cedrenus,  ii.  605,  616,  624, 
630.  On  Guzman,  cf.  Matthew  of 
Edessa,  eh.  91. 


donian  stock. 

■1    K 


514      GEOGRAPHICAL   THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

statesmanlike  ecclesiastic,  whatever  his  origin  or  nation,  can 
always  find  a  career.  A  Notitia  Bignitatum  of  the  Byzantine 
realm,  in  the  clays  of  Constantine  VI L,  would  give  us  a 
mosaic  of  races. 

Constantinople  shared  with  the  centres  of  Arab  learning 
— such  as  Cordova  and  Bagdad — the  honours  of  ancient 
Athens  in  the  eyes  of  the  earlier  mediaeval  world.  Gerbert 
goes  to  Spain,  but  Liudprand  eagerly  accepts  an  embassy  to 
New  Borne :  the  legation  is  a  secondary  matter,  beside  the 
chance  of  seeing  the  greatest  of  Christian  cities,  and  of 
learning  the  philosophy  and  literature  of  Greece.  For  this 
one  might  well  sacrifice  the  half  of  one's  fortune.1  So  in  the 
eleventh  century  Adam  of  Paris,  afterwards  Bishop  of 
Spalatro,  visits  Byzantium  to  perfect  himself  in  the  art  of 
writing  ;  so  the  physician  Honainus,  in  the  time  of  Basil  I., 
visits  '  Greece '  to  learn  the  medical  language  of  civilisation. 

§  2. — Latin  Geographers — Adam  of  Bremen'2 

Adam  of  Bremen  is  not  merely  the  Annalist  of  the  Churches 
of  Bremen  and  Hamburg ;  he  is  the  first  and  best  historian 
of  Northern  Germany  in  the  Middle  Ages  ;  and  in  geography 
he  occupies  a  still  more  important  place.  The  earliest 
writer  who  mentions  Yinland,  the  one  contemporary  who 
has  preserved  a  record  of  the  Polar  voyage  of  Harald 
Hardrada,  our  primary  authority  on  the  pre-Hanseatic 
trade  of  the  North  Sea  and  Baltic  coasts,  Adam  shares 
with  King  iElfred,  or,  more  properly,  with  Ohthere  and 
Wulfstan,  the  pioneer  honours  in  one  great  field  of  geo- 
graphical knowledge. 

Each  of  the  four  books,  or  main  divisions,  of  Adam's  work 
(variously  called  Ecclesiastical  History,  Deeds  of  the  Bishops  of 
1  Liudprand,  Antapodosls,  vi.  3.  "  Fl.  1070. 


VII. ]      ADAM  OF  BREMEN  AS  GEOGRAPHER      515 

Hamburg,  or  History  of  the  Chiefs1  of  Bremen)  has  a  different 
content.  The  first  deals  with  the  conversion  of  these 
'Saxon'  regions,  and  the  lives  and  Northern  journeys  of 
the  first  Bishops  of  Bremen.  The  second  recounts  the 
general  history  of  Germany,  and  especially  of  the  German 
Church  ;  the  wars  of  Germans  and  Slavs ;  and  the  attacks 
of  the  Northern  invaders  on  various  countries,  for  about  a 
century  before  Adam's  time.2  The  third  book  gives  a  life  of 
Archbishop  Adalbert  of  Bremen,  Adam's  great  patron.  The 
fourth  is  devoted  to  the  geography  of  the  Northern  parts  of 
the  world,  and  has  been  edited  as  a  separate  tract  On  the 
Position  of  Denmark,  and  of  Other  Regions  beyond  Denmark? 

The  word  Geography,  here  used  by  Adam  himself  of  his 
fourth  and  concluding  section,  is  not  very  common  in  the 
writers  of  the  Middle  Ages  ;  the  term  Geometry  (applied  to 
one  part  of  the  Quadrivium)  was  used  in  exactly  the  same 
sense,4  but  with  the  express  inclusion  of  what  is  now 
called  Ethnology  or  Antbropo-Geography  ;  and  among 
other  mediaeval  expressions  for  this  study  we  have  the 
common  De  Natura  reruni,  De  Natura  locorum,  De  Mensura 
Orbis  Terrae,  the  equally  common  Cosmographia,  and  the 
rarer  Cosmimetria. 

Adam  lived  on  the  borders  of  the  patristic  and  scholastic 
periods,  and  his  geography  may  be  said  to  look  back  upon 
the  one  and  forward  upon  the  other.  Born,  according  to  the 
generally    accepted  tradition,  in  Old  Saxony    on  the  North 


1  Pracsules  (here  '  Bishops').  The 
various  general  titles,  Historia  Ham- 
maburgensis  Ecclesiae,  Gesta  Hamb. 
eccl.  pontificuvi,  etc.,  in  some  editions 
are  made  to  cover  bk.  iv.  Descriptio 
■insularum  aquilonis,  in  some  not. 

2  C.  a.d.  940-1040. 

3  Cf.  August  in  Bernard.  DeAdamo   j    diversae  ejus  fades. 
Bremensi  Geographo,  Paris,  1S95  ;  K. 


Kretschmer,  Physische  Erdkunde  in 
Mitlelalter ;  Peschel's  Geschichte  der 
Erdkunde,  especially  pp.  80-82  and  90, 
has  many  excellent  remarks  on  Adam, 
and  suggestive  extracts  from  him. 

4  As  we  see  in  Raban  Maur,  who 
applies  Gcometria  to  Toms  Orbis  et 


516       GEOGRAPHICAL   THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

German  coast,  he  became  a  Canon  of  Bremen  in  or  about 
1069  ;  he  was  also  master1  of  the  Cathedral  School  and 
Chronicler  of  the  Church  ;  and  he  died,  according  to  the 
Diptychs  of  the  See  of  Bremen,  on  October  the  12th,  probably 
of  the  year  1076. 

Two  eminent  men  assisted  him  in  the  compilation  of  his 
Annals,  both  directly  and  indirectly,  both  by  their  own 
experience  and  by  the  varied  advantages  which  their 
patronage  and  hospitality  secured.  For  it  was  at  the 
Courts  of  Archbishop  Adalbert,  his  own  diocesan,  and  of 
Svein  Estrithson,2  King  of  Denmark,  that  Adam  picked 
up  and  pieced  together  the  fragments  of  new  knowledge 
which  give  so  exceptional  a  value  to  his  work.  Though 
not  himself  a  great  traveller,  Adam  seems  to  have  had  a 
sufficiently  good  personal  knowledge,  not  only  of  'Saxony,' 
and  Thuringia,  but  also  of  Denmark  as  far  as  the  Sound.  It 
is  evident  that  he  possessed  the  geographical  instinct ;  almost 
every  mention  he  makes  of  persons,  places,  or  nations  is 
accompanied  by  some  definition  of  their  habitat  or  position. 
The  circumstances  of  the  time  were  such  as  to  invite  some 
attention  to  earth-knowledge,  and  the  Bremen  chronicler 
was  not  deaf  to  the  invitation.  Everywhere  old  boundaries 
were  being  broken  down  before  the  slow  and  troubled  but 
steady  progress  of  Christianity  eastwards  along  the  North 
German  plain,  and  in  the  woods,  hills,  and  heaths  of  the 
Scandinavian  countries.3  At  the  commencement  of  Adam's 
own  century  not  only  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Norway,  but 
the  far  distant  Iceland  and  Greenland  had  accepted  the 
new    faith,    although    the    Slavonic    Wends    of    the    South 

1  One  Vilecinus  appears  as  school-   [  men,   c.  845  ;   and  united  with   the 
master  in  his  place  in  1126.  Church  of  Bremen,  c.   847  ;  from  c. 

2  OrAsuidson.  860,    under   St.    Ansgar,   it   claimed 

3  The    Church    of    Hamburg  was   .  authority    over    all    '  Northern    Re- 
founded,  c.  831  ;  destroyed  by  North-   I  gions. ' 


VII.]  ADAM    AND    ADALBERT  517 

Baltic  coast  still  struggled  obstinately,  and  in  1066  for 
the  third  time  began  a  '  Pagan  War.'  In  1055  the  first 
Bishop  of  Iceland,  by  name  Isleif,  was  appointed  as  a 
suffragan  of  Bremen ;  to  the  same  Province  were  also 
attached  (in  the  course  of  the  eleventh  century)  all  the  home- 
lands of  the  Scandinavian  peoples,  to  say  nothing  of  Orkneys, 
Faroes,  Hebrides,1  and  other  scattered  islands  of  the  Northern 
Ocean.  Under  Adam's  patron,  the  great  Adalbert,  Bremen 
was  therefore  at  the  height  of  its  power  and  influence- 
Political  and  ecclesiastical  matters  were  then  almost  in- 
separable ;  and  Adalbert,  practically  a  Patriarch  of  the 
North,  wished  to  obtain  the  formal  grant  of  the  title,  all 
the  more  as  he  shared  with  Haniro  of  Cologne  the  guardian- 
ship of  the  young  Emperor  Henry  IV.2  His  ambition  was 
not  gratified,  but  he  made  Bremen  an  Arctic  Borne  and  his 
court  the  greatest  centre  of  Northern  learning.  Italians, 
Franks,3  Scots,  Greeks,  and  Jews  were  all  to  be  found 
there ;  likewise  physicians,  astrologers,  painters,  and 
musicians,  and  among  them  such  famous  men  as  John 
Scotus  Erigena,4  Gualclo  the  Frenchman,5  Trasmundus  the 
painter-monk,  the  musician  Guido  of  Italy,  Aristo  the 
Greek,  Adamatus  the  physician  of  Salerno,  and  the  much- 
travelled  Bovo,  who  had  thrice  visited  Jerusalem,  knew 
1  Babylon  of  the  Saracens '  or  Cairo  of  Egypt,  and  had 
wandered  through  various  other  parts  of  the  world.     Many 


1  It  is  curious  that  the  Papal  letters 
of  1027  make  no  reference  to  the  con- 
version of  Iceland  and  Greenland ; 
this  is  first  mentioned  by  Leo  IX.  in 
1053.  In  1103,  1110,  and  1112, 
Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Norway  were 
successively  separated  from  Bremen, 
in  the  ecclesiastical  sense.  On  Adam's 
use  of  Orkneys,  apparently  including 
Hebrides,  cf.  Hist.  Har/ib.  Eccl.  iii. 
11.   etc.  [ch.   127,  Lappenberg],  and 


at  end  of  bk.  iii.  (additions)  ;  also 
his  Descriptio  insularum  in  bk.  iv. 
These  Orkneys  in  former  times  had 
had  English  and  Scottish  bishops, 
but  now  Adalbert  consecrated  one 
Turolf  as  Bishop  of  '  Blascona '  (a 
now  unknown  site). 

2  The  future  penitent  of  Canossa. 

3  Lit.  Gauls. 

4  '  John  of  Ireland.' 

5  'Gaul.' 


518       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch. 

Slav  and  Scandinavian  merchants  and  pilgrims  also  passed 
through  Bremen,  and  were  entertained  by  Adalbert,  whose 
court-circles  (and  Adam  among  the  rest)  were  thus  able 
to  hear  the  latest  news  of  Rome,  Compostella,  and 
Jerusalem  on  one  side ;  of  Iceland,  Greenland,  Norway, 
and  the  Baltic  coasts  on  another ;  even  catching  now  and 
then  a  hint  of  the  new-found  lands  in  the  Far  North- 
West.1 

In  the  midst  of  this  brilliant  society,  Adalbert  moved 
like  a  king.  The  great  mediaeval  Churchman  was  seen  to 
full  advantage  in  this  man,  of  splendid  presence,  lofty 
ambition,  high  lineage,  rare  eloquence,  and  fervent  devotion.2 
Of  low  amours  he  was  free,  an  uncommon  praise  in  that 
age  from  the  mouth  of  enemies ;  and,  like  the  High-Souled 
Man,  in  whom  Aristotle  sketched  the  ideal  of  ancient 
philosophy,  he  was  full  of  gentleness  and  affability  to  his 
inferiors — to  the  poor  marvellously  humble  (often  washing 
the  feet  of  thirty  beggars) — but  to  his  equals  haughty 
and  unbending,  as  became  one  who  claimed  relationship 
with  the  Imperial  families  both  of  the  West  and  East.3  His 
splendour  and  ostentation  in  household  management,  in 
buildings  both  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  in  the  maintenance 
of  body-guards  and  personal  state,  sound  like  descrip- 
tions of  an  earlier  and  German  Wolsey,  and  his  faults 
were  not  unlike  the  proud,  liberal,  brilliant,  unscrupulous, 

1  On   the  position   of  the  See   of  |    Lappenberg]  ;  also  Lambert  of  Hers- 


Bremen  under  Adalbert,  as  a  centre 
of  Northern  Civilisation,  of.  Adam, 
iii.  23,  32,  57,  70  [ehs.  142,  150, 
183,  201,  Lappenberg],  and  Seiiol.  91. 
2  On  Adalbert,  of.  Adam,  bk.  iii. 
passim,  ami  especially  chs.  1,  2,  5, 
7,  9,  10,  30,  31,  33,  35,  36,  38,  39, 
45,  48,  57-59,  68,  [chs.  118,  119, 
120,  122,  124,  126,  127,  148,  149,  150, 
151-156,  162,  165,  183-185,  196-199, 


feld.  in  Pert/'  edition  of  1874,  pp.  56, 
57,  60,  68,  69;  under  a.d.  1063, 
1065,  1006.  Often,  says  Lambert, 
in  the  service  of  the  M  ass,  '  when  he 
offered  the  Saving  Victim  to  God, 
his  emotion  would  overcome  him,  and 
he  w  ept  as  he  stood  before  the  altar. 
3 Alike  with  Otto  III.  and  Theo- 
phano,  his  wife. 


VII.]  ADALBERT    AS    RELIGIOUS    EXPLORER  519 

much-hated  minister  of  Henry  VIII.  of  England.  Alike  in 
kindness  and  in  anger  both  were  regal ;  alike  in  merits 
and  defects  both  were  examples  of  a  vigorous  and  gifted 
human  nature,  of  an  energy  and  capacity,  a  love  and  hate, 
a  generosity  and  a  harshness  beyond  that  of  common  men. 
During  the  life  of  the  Emperor  Henry  III.,  Adalbert 
had  what  he  needed ;  a  firm  master,  who  honoured  his 
talents,  stimulated  his  abilities,  and  controlled  his  arrogance. 
The  death  of  his  judicious  patron  diverted  the  Archbishop 
more  and  more  from  his  own  proper  work l  to  a  purely 
political  life;  he  first  aspired  to  a  share  in  the  custody 
and  education  of  the  young  Kaiser,  then  to  the  exclusive 
control  of  his  sovereign ;  in  these  aims  he  succeeded ;  but 
in  the  hour  of  his  success  he  threw  aside  all  restraint,  and 
vented  his  open  scorn  and  hatred  upon  the  stupid,  greedy, 
boorish  nobles,  whom  he  had  long  ridiculed  in  the  privacy 
of  his  inner  circle.2  The  bishop's  household  might  enjoy 
their  laugh,  but  their  lord  was  ill-advised  in  publishing  his 
sarcasms,  in  braving  too  wide  an  enmity.  What  was  worse, 
he  began  to  neglect  business  for  alchemy,  spiritism,  jugglery, 
or  dice  ;  he  seized  lay  lands  and  annexed  them  to  the 
estates  of  his  Church  with  rather  too  liberal  an  eagerness ; 
and  after  a  few  years  of  power  the  sceptre  broke  in  his 
hands  at  the  diet  of  Tribur,  a  few  months  before  the 
Norman  Conquest  of  England.  What  we  may  call  his 
religious  exploration  of  the  North  is  of  special  interest. 
Scarcely  did  he  become  Archbishop  of  Bremen  when  he 
despatched  letters  to  '  the  most  remote  of  his  clergy  and  to 


1  As  in  his  missions  to  the  Orkneys 
and  Iceland. 

2  Yet  he  was  very  proud  of  his 
family  connection  with  one  of  these 
' hoors,'  the  Count  Palatine  of  Saxony ; 


man  of  obscure  birth,  practised  a 
shameless  nepotism  in  bestowing 
Church  patronage,  Adalbert  despised 
such  vulgar  means  of  support,  and 
made     little     attempt    to    create 


but  whereas  Hanno  of  Cologne,  as  a    I    party. 


520      GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

other  bishops  of  the  Arctic  regions ' ; x  in  these  letters  he 
does  not  forget  to  allude  to  the  islands  in  the  depths  of 
the  sea  ;  and  he  even  expresses  the  hope  of  imitating  his 
apostolic  predecessors,2  Ansgar  and  Eimbert,  by  a  personal 
journey  to  the  distant  parts  of  his  vast  diocese.  In  some 
of  his  earliest  letters,  Adalbert  warns  the  Bishop  of  Iceland 
that  he  will  soon  make  a  visit  as  Metropolitan  both  to  that 
island  and  to  Greenland ;  but  from  this  purpose  he  was 
dissuaded  by  Svein  of  Denmark,  who,  as  a  practised  traveller, 
put  before  him  some  of  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  the 
way.3  Yet  his  interest  in  the  countries  of  Northern 
Europe  was  not  thrown  away ;  he  inspired  the  geographical 
writings  of  his  retainer,  the  master  of  the  Cathedral  school 
of  Bremen ;  and  we  may  fairly  suppose  that  it  was  to 
his  permission,  or  perhaps  suggestion,  that  Adam  owed  his 
knowledge  of  the  Archives  of  the  See.4 

Adam,  in  all  probability,  owed  more  to  his  bishop  than 
to  all  besides ; 5  but  he  owed  not  a  little,  as  we  have  said, 
to  another  great  personage  of  his  time,  the  subtle,  fortunate, 
and  successful  King  Svein  Estrithson,  who,  after  a  life  of 
many  adventures  and  much  profligacy,  a  visit  to  England, 
and  a  residence  of  eleven  years0  in  Sweden,  securely 
established  the  independence  of  Denmark  against  powerful 
and  dangerous  neighbours.  His  learning  was  extraordinary 
for  a  layman  at  that  time,  and  gained  the  especial  praise 
of  Hildebrand ;  no  less  remarkable  was  the  king's  well- 
stored  memory,  preserving  as  in  a  book  the  record  of  so  many 


^daru,  iii.  11  [ch.   172,    Lappen- 
berg]. 

2  Adam,   iii.   70  [ch.   201,   Lappen- 
berg]. 

3  Adam,  iii.    23,  70  ;  iv.    35  [chs. 
142,  201,  244,  Lappenberg]. 

4  Including  the  lives  of  the  wander- 
ing missionaries  Willibrord,  Liudger, 


and  Ansgar  ;  and  perhaps  a  diary  and 
itinerary  of  the  last-named  apostle, 
no  longer  extant. 

5  But  Lappenberg  maintains  that 
Svein,  as  the  more  practical  man,  gate 
Adam  his  best  information. 

G 1031-1042, 


VII.]  ADAM    AND    SVEIN    KSTRITHSON  521 

of  his  people's  exploits.1  Vessels  sailing  to  the  Baltic  from 
the  '  outer  coasts,'  rarely  appear  to  have  called  at  Bremen  in 
Adam's  day,  but  the  city  was  a  place  of  passage  and  stay  for 
many  travellers  from  the  Lower  Rhine  basin  to  the  Danish 
and  Wendish  markets  of  Sliaswig  or  Schleswig,  Rosehald 
or  Roskilde,  and  Jumna.  A  large  and  constant  stream  of 
visitors  was  thus  attracted  to  Adalbert's  court  and  town, 
and  although  the  broils  which  marked  the  later  years 
of  his  episcopate  caused  a  decrease  in  the  number  of 
merchants  who  resorted  there,  yet  throughout  the  lifetime 
of  Adam,  the  Fair  Haven  of  the  Weser  was  indisputably 
supreme  among  the  harbours  of  the  North   German   shore. 

Meantime,  during  the  whole  reign  of  Svein  Estrithson,2 
Denmark  was  steadily  growing  in  commercial  strength  ;  its 
markets  were  becoming  famous  among  Moslem  traders  ; 
and  first  among  the  Scandinavian  kingdoms  it  was  forming 
intimate  relations  with  the  rest  of  Christendom.  For  Danish 
merchants  now  made  their  way  from  the  Baltic  to  the 
Black  Sea  and  the  Russian  upland,  along  the  courses  of 
the  Neva,  Dvina,  and  Dniepr ;  Scandinavian  visitors  were 
not  infrequently  found  at  Novgorod  and  Kiev,  as  at  Byzantium 
and  in  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  in  the  Vaering  or  Varangian 
body-guard  of  the  Eastern  Emperors,  Russians,  Norwegians, 
Danes,  Swedes,  and  English  exiles  found  a  common  employ- 
ment and  a  common  field  of  honour  and  glory. 

Adam's  sources  of  information  were  partly  oral  and 
partly  written,  and  among  the  former  we  must  reckon  not 
only  his  great  patrons,  Adalbert  and  Svein,  but  also  many 
lesser  acquaintances,  travellers  whom  he  met  at  the  Court  of 
Denmark  and  in  the  household  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Bremen.      Besides  his   patrons   Adalbert  and   Svein,   them- 

1  Adam,  iii.  53  ;  ii.  41  [chs.  171,  84    Lappenberg]. 

2  A.D.  1047-1076. 


522      GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

selves  repositories  of  information  collected  from  many- 
friends  and  visitors,  we  find  the  historian  especially- 
relying  on  an  (unnamed)  Danish  bishop ;  a  Nordalbingian 
noble;  the  companions  of  Bishop  Adelward  the  Younger; 
a  Christian  traveller  who  had  witnessed  the  Pagan  sacrifices 
at  Upsala ;  William  the  Englishman,  Bishop  of  Zeeland,  who 
had  been  Chancellor  of  Cnut  the  Great,  and  an  intimate  of 
Svein  Estrithson  ;  and  Adelward,  the  Dean  of  Bremen,1 
formerly  'Bishop  of  the  Goths  in  Sweden.' 

But  like  all  men  of  his  time,  Adam  put  the  authority  of 
classical  writers  far  above  this  modern  testimony,  or  the 
vulgar  witness  of  ordinary  sense.  He  assumes  that  all  the 
regions  of  the  North  were  known  to  the  Eomans,  but  less 
definitely,  under  different  names ;  he  displays  no  small 
anxiety  to  base  his  knowledge  of  Scandia  upon  the  sure 
testimony  of  Virgil,  Lucan,  and  Horace ;  and  except  for  a 
few  writers  of  the  age  of  Charlemagne  and  other  '  Dark ' 
periods,  his  book-learning  is  mainly  of  the  Julian  and 
Augustan  time.  Sallust'2  especially  is  employed,  his  style 
imitated,  his  views  and  expressions  introduced.  Of  the 
early  Christian  or  late  Pagan  writers  he  uses  Macrobius3 
and  Capella,  Solinus  and  Orosius,  Paul  the  Deacon  and 
Gregory  of  Tours,4  Einhard  and  Bede.  The  Annals  of 
Fulda  and  the  Deeds  of  the  Saxons3  are  responsible  for. 
some  of  Adam's  history ;  his  general  theory  in  physical 
questions  is  largely  derived  from  Bede's  tract  On  the  Nature 
of  Things,6  and  still  more  from  Capella's  Nuptials  of  Philology 
and  Mercury?  that  '  fount  of  all  science '  (in  the  enthusiastic 


1  Adelward   the    Elder,    as  Adam 
calls  him. 

2  As  by  Widukind   and   Lambert 
of  Hersfeld. 

3  The  Commentary  on  the  Dream 
of  Scipio. 


5  Really  Rudolf's  Translatio  S. 
Alexandria,  wrongly  ascribed  to  Ein- 
hard by  Adam. 

6  Adam  also  uses  Bede's  De  tern- 
porinn  ratione.    Cf.  p.  574  of  this  vol. 

7  Especially  bk.  vi.,  On  Geomitry 


4  Perhaps  in  Fredegar's  Epitome.    I    (including  Geography). 


VII.] 


ADAM  S     LEARNING 


523 


language  of  Gregory  of  Tours),  already  accessible  to  Germans 
in  their  own  language  by  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century. 
The  Solinus  used  by  him  was  no  doubt  the  fifth-century 
recension l  with  which  the  new  title  of  Polyhistor  was 
associated.  In  all  these  respects  Adam  resembles  other 
mediaeval  writers,  and  shows  little  superiority  to  his  time, 
except  in  a  more  guarded  use  of  fabulous  material. 

Adam  was  probably  ignorant  of  Greek,  although  some 
Greek  words  occur  in  his  work  under  Latin  forms ;  at  this 
time  the  knowledge  of  Greek  was  rare  indeed  among 
Western  Christians,  and  the  revival  of  the  study  did  not 
begin  till  about  half  a  century  later,  when  William  the 
Monk  brought  a  fresh  stock  of  Greek  manuscripts  from 
Constantinople  to  Paris.  Yet  Adam  would  seem  to  have 
known  something  of  Ptolemy,  if  only  the  shadow  of  that 
great  name  which  is  also  to  be  found  in  Cosmas,2  Cassiodorus, 
the  Eavennese  Geographer,  and  iElfred  the  Great ;  for  until 
the  fifteenth  century  it  is  the  name  rather  than  the  works 
of  the  Alexandrian  physicist  which  can  be  discerned  in 
Christian  literature. 

In  particular,  the  geographical  matter  of  Adam's  work 
may  fairly  be  derived  from  these  three  sources  of  personal 
knowledge,  contemporary  information,  and  writings  of  earlier 
date,  of  the  first  century  before  Christ,  or  of  the  fifth,  eighth, 
and  ninth  centuries  after  Christ,  by  preference.  And  first, 
as  to  his  general  theories,  on  the  form  of  the  earth  and  the 
ocean.  There  are  only  two  passages  in  Adam's  writings 
which  can  be  said  to  bear  upon  abstract  or  mathematical 


1  This  probably  contained  the 
Irish  additions  to  which  Mommsen 
has  drawn  attention. 

2  Cosmas  Indicoplenstes,  hi.  177, 
182,  Montfaucon  ;  Anon.  Rav.  iv.  4 
[edition  of  Pinder  and  Parthey,  p.  175, 


lines  2,  11].  Cosmas  of  course  is  well 
acquainted  with  the  Ptolemaic  system, 
and  most  of  the  Christian  Topography 
is  an  attack  upon  its  spherical  and 
geocentric  theories. 


524       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  Ch. 

geography ; *  one  relates  to  the  opinions  of  King  Svein  and 
others  on  the  length  of  the  night  in  the  island  of  Halaga- 
land ;  the  other  to  the  views  of  Solinus  and  Bede  upon  the 
length  of  night  and  day  in  Thule,  and  the  necessary  in- 
equality 2  in  the  seasons  of  light  and  darkness,  arising  from 
the  roundness  of  the  earth,  which  nullified  the  little  in- 
equalities of  valleys,  mountains,  and  seas.3  Adam  is  quite 
free  from  the  wild  theories  of  the  northern  heights  behind 
which  the  sun  was  hidden,  although  these  venerable  myths, 
derived  from  Indian  '  philosophers,'  had  enjoyed  the  support 
of  Cosmas,  of  the  Eavennese  geographer,  and  even  of 
Dicuil.4  In  this  also  our  annalist  owes  a  measure  of  true 
guidance  to  the  eighth  century,  and  especially  to  the 
vigorous  and  manly  work  of  Bede  and  Bishop  Virgil,6 
who  in  the  midst  of  almost  universal  scientific  depression 
had  done  something  to  re-establish  the  experimental  study 
of  nature.  From  the  time  that  the  great  name  of  Bede  could 
be  cited  in  its  favour,  the  globular  view  of  the  earth  had  a 
better  chance  of  mediaeval  acceptance ;  for  scientific  theory 
was  no  longer  monopolised  by  the  dangerous  speculators  of 
the  ancient  world  whose  heathen  doctrines  the  true  Catholic 
must  needs  suspect;  and  thus  the  naturalism  which  had  been 
confined  to  an  insignificant  minority,6  was,  in  the  eleventh 
century,  already  winning  its  way  to  a  recognised  position 
and  ultimate  victory.  As  to  the  face  of  the  earth  and  the 
distribution  of  land  and  sea,  Adam  considers  that  terra  firma 


1  Ad.   iv.   35,   37  [chs.  244,  246, 
Lappenberg],  and  Schol.  152. 

2  Demonstrated    by    the    North- 
umbrian philosopher. 


6  K.  Kretsehmer  suggests  that 
before  Bede  the  globular  view  of 
earth  was  professed  only  by  a  very 
small     band     of    '  faddists'  ;     after 


3  Bede,  De  rerum  natura,  c.  46  ;    ;  Hede,  he  seems  to  think  it  immedi- 
De  temporum  ratione,  c.  32.  i  ately  became  the  creed  of  the  majority 

4  In  a  measure.  I  of  learned  men — rather  too  sudden  a 
s  Of  Salzburg.  |  transition. 


VII.] 


HARALD    HARDRADAS    ARCTIC    JOURNEY 


525 


was  entirely  surrounded  by  the  infinite  and  terrible  ocean  ; 1 
the  northern  part  of  this  ocean  was  covered  with  ice  and 
darkness,  and  was  known  as  the  frozen,  glutinous,  or  darkling 
sea ; 2  it  was  also  conceived  as  '  thick  '  or  '  stiff'  with  salt,  and 
covered  with  black  and  aged  ice,  so  dry  as  to  burn  in  fire  ; 
the  darkness  of  this  region  is  illustrated  by  a  story.3 
Harald,4  the  King  of  the  Norsemen,  and  the  most  experi- 
enced of  their  chiefs,  not  content  with  a  life  of  matchless 
adventure  and  good  fortune,  must  needs  examine  the  breadth 
of  the  Northern  Ocean,  must  even  try  and  penetrate  to  the 
Pole  itself.  Some  Frisian  mariners  seem  to  have  drawn 
him  on  by  reports  of  their  extensive  wanderings  on  the  sea, 
and  Harald,  who  always  ventured  beyond  the  utmost  of 
other  men,  reached  the  very  limit  of  the  earth,5  and  was 
only  saved  with  the  utmost  difficulty  from  falling  headlong 
into  the  depths  of  that  '  profound  chaos,'  wherein  the  ebb  of 
ocean  was  swallowed  up  and  again  poured  forth  as  the  flow 
or  rising  tide.  Into  the  vortex  of  this  appalling  maelstrom 
'  at  the  darkling  end  of  the  failing  world '  the  reckless 
Frisians  (gripped  by  the  ice  and  covered  by  the  darkness) 
wyere  suddenly  drawn  ;  but  the  ever-shifting  current  or 
Eurvpus  of  the  Main  was  so  mighty  and  so  variable,  that 


1  Ad.  iv.  10,  34  [ohs.  217,  243, 
Lappenberg].  This  all-surrounding 
ocean  is  not  only  a  classical,  bat  a 
German  and  Scandinavian  tradition 
prominent  in  the  heathen  mytho- 
logy. 

2  Adam's  [a)  Mare  concretum, 
also  qualified  by  him  as  (b)  caligans, 
and  (c)  spissum  a  sale;  (a)  is  com- 
mon enough,  a  regular  traditional 
expression,  e.g.  in  Capella  and 
Dicuil  ;  (b)  is  perhaps  a  Latin 
translation  of  the  Dumbshof  of  the 
mythologies.  The  expression  (c) 
is    no    doubt    connected    with    the 


favourite  doctrine  of  the  scholastics 
that  the  saltness  of  sea  was  due  to 
stagnation,  a  theory  true  enough  as 
regards  lakes.  The  word  (d)  libersec, 
glutinous,  also  applied  to  the  northern 
waters,  has  special  reference  to  the 
half-frozen  ocean,  such  as  exists  off 
much  of  the  Lapland  coast.  It  is 
perhaps  connected  with  the  libberig 
of  the  Bremen  dialect,  used  in  the 
same  sense  as  klcbrig. 

3  Ad.    iv.    38    fch.    247,    Lappen- 
berg]. 

4  Hardrada. 

s  '  According  to  report.' 


526       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  [Ch. 

while  it  destroyed  it  could  also  save,  and  while  it  swept 
the  victim  down  to  the  depths  with  one  motion,  with  another 
it  carried  him  again  into  the  upper  air. 

Like  Macrobius,  the  Venerable  Bede  had  clearly  re-stated 
the  results  of  Greek  science  and  Phoenician  observation  upon 
the  tides'  '  obedience '  to  the  moon,  yet  Adam  never  gives  us 
this  solution.  He  quotes  various  remarks  of  both  these 
writers x  upon  the  phenomenon,  but  carefully  avoids  the 
point. 

Among  the  marvels  of  nature  we  find  sufficiently  plain 
references  to  icebergs  and  a  somewhat  confused  and  symbolic 
allusion  to  the  volcanos  of  the  Icelandic  fells  and  the  cur- 
rents of  the  Icelandic  shores.  From  these  volcanos  was 
apparently  procured  an  article  of  merchandise,  called  '  Olla 
Vulcani,' ''  an  important  item  of  trade  at  the  Wendish  mart 
of  Jumna  near  the  mouth  of  the  Oder.3  Here  it  was 
known  by  the  name  of  Greek  fire ;  and  as  the  Greeks, 
like  all  the  '  Barbarians,' — Franks  and  Northmen,  Slavs  and 
Saxons, — were  well  acquainted  with  this  'greatest  of  the 
cities  of  Europe,'  and  frequently  visited  its  market,  the 
name  is  scarcely  to  be  attributed  to  sheer  ignorance.  Adam 
shows  far  too  great  a  knowledge  of  Iceland — its  situation, 
seasons,  and  commerce  with  Bremen — for  us  to  suppose 
that  he  was  ignorant  of  its  volcanos,  and  his  allusion  to 
the  black  and   burning  ice  near  the  great  northern   island 

1  Among  others,  Lucan  is  also  Geography,  i.  154.  This  conception, 
quoted.  |    coming    from    the    Greek  -  speaking 

2  'Vulcan's  jar.'  [   Mediterranean,  perhaps  explains  the 

3  Some  have  thought  '  Olla '  is  a  I  use  of  the  term  '  Greek  fire '  in  the 
misreading  for 'Wollin' at  the  mouth  text  here.  On  Iceland,  cf.  Saxo 
of  the  Oder  ;  another  theory  derives  \  Grammaticus,  who  calls  it  a  place 
it  from  'Holle'  (Hell)  volcanos  being  j  for  the  torture  of  tyrants  ;  one  theory 
constantly  spoken  of  in  the  Middle  I  makes  the  'Grerk  fire '  of  the  text  an 
Ages  as  mouths  of  Hell ;  cf.  Willibald,  expression  for  the  torment  of  Greek 
Hodocporicon,  end  (on  A'ulcan's  Isle  Church  heretics,  who  were  numerous 
in   the   Liparis)  ;   Dawn  of  Modem  ,   at  Jumna  (or  Jumne). 


VIL]  ADAM     ON     ICELAND  527 

can  hardly  refer  to  anything  but  lava  running  down  from 
the  fiery  mountains  to  the  'frozen,  dark,  and  burning'  ocean.1 

Once  more,  just  as  this  Greek  fire  of  the  North  may  be 
connected  with  Iceland,  so  we  may  link  with  the  same 
island  the  famous  and  obscure  passage  about  the  '  triple 
Neptune,'  which,  with  three  straits,  washed  its  shores,2  one 
'  green  '  (or  ice  free),  the  second  '  whitish  '  (or  ice  bound),  the 
third  '  black  with  fierce  tempests.'  It  is  true  that  the  first 
recorded  eruption  of  Hekla  was  a  little  after  Adam's  day ; 3 
but  other  volcanos  of  Iceland  are  known  to  have  been 
active  in  far  earlier  times,  even  in  the  ninth  century,  shortly 
after  the  first  settlement  of  the  Northmen. 

.Froin  these  allusions  to  abstract  geography  and  to  certain 
phenomena  of  geographical  interest,  we  must  turn  to  Adam's 
treatment  of  the  countries  of  Northern  Europe,  in  other 
words,  to  his  detailed  topography.  The  unquestionable  value 
of  the  chronicler's  descriptions  is  somewhat  impaired  by 
his  necessarily  vague  estimates  of  distance ;  land-travellers 
and  mariners  of  that  time  had  no  sure  means  of  determining 
positions  ;  for,  at  the  very  earliest,  they  cannot  be  shown  to 
have  used  the  compass  before  the  closing  years  of  the  next 
century.4  lu  the  case  of  some  of  the  more  important  Northern 
cities  reckonings  of  latitude  may  already  have  been  made 
from  the  length  of  the  longest  day  ; 5  but  at  sea  the  course 
of  ships  could  only  be  directed  by  empirical  observations  of 


1  Ad.  iv.  35  [ch.  244,  Lappen- 
berg],  and  Schol.  149.  An  apparent 
misplacement  of  the  text  would  seem 
to  imply  that  this  '  Olla  Vulcani ' 
was  actually  obtained  at  Jumna  or 
on  the  shore  of  Pomerania,  but  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  the  question 
is  of  an  article  of  import  trade. 

2  From  the  text  (fretis  alluitur  ilia 
insula)  the  reference  is  apparently  to 
Jumna,   but   no  doubt  in   reality  to 


Iceland. 

3  In  the  year  1104. 

4  About  a.d.  11  SO. 

5  Thus  at  Roskilde  such  a  reckon- 
ing was  made  in  1274,  and  in  other 
cities  similar  computations  were  made 
by  order  of  the  bishops,  as  in  the 
Book  of  Roskilde.  The  same  reckon- 
ing is  used  by  the  Sagas  of  Ked  Eric, 
etc.,  in  estimating  the  position  of 
V  inland. 


528       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  [Ch. 

the  stars  and  of  the  flights  of  birds,  such  as  the  ravens 
sacred  to  Odin  and  useful  to  the  navigator  from  the 
length  and  steadiness  of  their  flight.  Adam's  usual  com- 
putation is  by  the  day's  journey  of  twelve  hours,1  an 
obviously  uncertain  measure,  but  assumed  (on  the  Northern 
Seas)  to  average  about  fifteen  geographical  miles.  Still  more 
difficult  and  uncertain  was  such  a  reckoning  on  land  ;  for 
there  all  depended  on  the  state  of  roads,  which  in  Denmark 
were  excellent,  in  Sweden  poor,  and  in  Norway  and  the  Slav 
countries  of  Eastern  Europe  almost  non-existent. 

It  must  remain  doubtful  how  far  the  Northern  knowledge 
of  the  world  extended  in  Adam's  time,  at  least  as  regards 
some  of  the  more  distant  and  obscure  regions ;  and  it  is 
clear  that  while  he  preserves  a  notice  of  the  Vinland  or 
American  discoveries  to  the  West,  he  has  no  conception  of 
the  White  Sea  and  Biarmaland  explorations  of  the  North- 
men to  the  East.  The  Scythia  of  the  Saxon  geographer 
includes  the  whole  of  Eastern  and  Northern  Europe  beyond 
German  limits,  and  comprises  not  only  Wendland  and  the 
modern  Eussia,  but  sometimes  Denmark,  Sweden,  and 
Norway  as  well.  Thus  Birca  in  Sweden  is  a  Scythian  town, 
and  a  great  resort  for  Danish,  Norse,  and  other  Scythian 
traders ;  while  Harald  Hardrada,  in  his  Byzantine  service,  was 
constantly  at  war  with  Scythians!2  Such  a  use  of  the  term 
is  hardly  satisfactory  from  a  geographical,  historical,  or 
racial  point  of  view,  and  it  is  complicated  by  Adam's 
employment  of  the  designation  Greece,  to  cover  all 
Christians  of  the  Eastern  Church,  from  Eussia  to  Byzantium. 
As  to  the  latter,  our  author  makes  no  secret  of  his  Eoman 
prejudices.     The  Greek  schismatics,  he  believed,  were  quite 


1  The  same,  according  to  Dr 
Storm,  Studies  on  the  Vinland 
Voyages,  is  the  regular  meaning 
of  the  expression   in  all  the  Sagas, 


the  night  never  being  included. 

2  Cf.  Ad.  i.  62,  64  ;  iii.  12  [chs. 
47,  49,  130,  Lappenberg].  See  also 
Schols.  63,  64. 


VII.] 


ADAM    ON    BALTIC    NATIONS 


529 


as  far  removed  from  the  Christian  Faith  as  the  Barbarians,1 
and  he  feared  that  they  would  some  day  be  the  leaders  in 
the  seduction  of  all  Christendom,  in  that  dark  hour  when 
Antichrist  would  triumph,  when  Gog  and  Magog  would 
rage  against  the  saints,  and  when  the  Lord  would  send  fire 
upon  all  those  who  dwelt  at  ease  on  the  islands.'2  This  time 
of  trial  Adam  sometimes  considered  to  be  very  near  ;  the 
end  of  the  first  millennium,  and  the  tyranny  of  Harald 
Hardrada,  were  both  suggestive  of  the  accomplishment  of 
the  Reign  of  Evil,  after  a  thousand  years  ;  and  although  in 
each  case  the  fulness  of  time  had  not  arrived,  there  were 
many  signs  that  the  last  day  was  at  hand.  For  one  thing, 
the  Slavs  were  now  all  going  back  to  idolatry ;  and  no  long 
time  before  the  historian  wrote,  the  city  of  Hamburg  had 
been  destroyed 3  by  its  Pagan  enemies. 

As  to  the  Scandinavian  peoples,  Adam's  language  is 
confused  and  uncritical ;  he  is  content  to  identify  them  all 
with  the  ancient  Hyperboreans;  and  in  the  spirit  of  classical 
and  mediaeval  philology  he  mingles  together  Goths  and 
Getae,  Danes  and  Dacians,  Swedes  and  Suevi.  The  last- 
named,  according  to  the  powerful  testimony  of  Orosius  and 
Solinus,  once  occupied  the  greater  part  of  Germany,  and 
their  rough  mountainous  country  stretched  far  into  Scythia 
up  to  the  Biphaean  Hills. 

The  Bremen  geographer  is  the  first  author  of  Latin 
Europe  to  give  us  the  (Slavonic  ?)  name  of  '  Baltic/  4  but  he  has 


1  Under  the  name  of  Barbarians, 
Adam  sometimes  groups  all  who  are 
not  of  the  Latin  Church,  both  Pagans 
and  Greek  Christians. 

-  Ad.  i.  28  [ch.  22,  Lappenberg]; 
cf.  Ezekiel  xxxix.  6. 

3  An  earlier  fulfilment  of  the 
prophecy  of  Ezekiel  is  seen  by  Adam 
i     28  [ch.    22,    Lappenberg],   in  the 


capture  of  Borne  by  the  Goths,  a.d. 
410.  Ezekiel's  words  are  specially 
connected  with  the  supposed  mean- 
ing of  islands  attached  to  the  word 
Magog. 

4  Almost  certainly  from  Bieli 
(white),  though  most  Latins  con- 
nected it  with  Battens,  '  a  belt. '  In 
Lithuanian  the  name  is  '  Sulfas.' 


2    L 


530       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch. 

somewhat  distorted  notions  of  its  shape,  and  consequently  of 
the  Scandinavian  peninsula,  island,  or  archipelago ;  for  in 
treating  of  this  vast  region  the  writer  commonly  hovers 
between  these  three  conceptions.1  In  one  passage,  however,  he 
frankly  surrenders  himself  to  the  influence  of  the  personal 
testimony  of  '  some  who  knew  the  country  well,'  and  asserts 
roundly  that  the  Baltic  was  entirely  encompassed  by  land. 
His  informants  declared  that  they  had  been  overland  all  the 
way  from  Sweden  to  '  Greece,'  and  but  for  the  barbarism  of 
the  peoples  dwelling  on  this  route,  not  so  many  would  be 
found  to  brave  the  dangers  of  the  sea  passage.  In  other 
words,  men  preferred  to  cross  the  Baltic  sooner  than  pass 
through  the  Finnish  tribes  of  the  Eastern  shorelands. 

It  is  strange  that  on  the  question  of  the  Northern 
Euxine,  where  Adam  had  abundant  information  from 
Danish  and  other  contemporaries  who  had  sailed  over  a 
great  part  of  it,2  he  yet  attaches  so  much  importance  to  the 
traditions  of  ancient  writers  usually  destitute  of  all  first- 
hand information  or  original  value.  At  the  same  time,  he 
does  not  neglect  (as  some  would  have  done)  the  true 
guidance  that  offered  itself ;  he  only  weakens,  he  does  not 
obliterate  it  by  his  traditions;  and  herein3  we  have  an 
excellent  example  of  his  method  and  a  good  illustration  of 
his  characteristic  merits  and  defects.  Martianus  Capella 
declared  that  the  Maeotid  Marsh,  washing  the  Scythian  shore  or 

1  As  was  the  case  with  his  more  ,    Sueonia   even  to  Greece'].     On  the 

ignorant  '  Authorities '  of  antiquity ;  j    other  hand,  Adam  makes  Halagland 

several  of  these  made  Scandinavia  a  :    or  Heiligiand  (Halogaland)  a  separate 

group  of  isles ;    Ptolemy  drew  it  as  island  from  Scandinavia,  and  groups 

one  large  island;  with  Adam  begins  it  with  A'inland,  iv.  10,  37,  38  [chs. 

the   tendency   towards    the    true   or  217,  246-247,  Lappenberg]. 

peninsular    conception,    iv.    15    [ch.  -  At   least   as  far  as  the  Gulf  of 

222,   Lappenberg.       '  Some   w-ell   ac-  Finland  to  the  north-east, 

quainted   with   the    localities   assert  I        3  Viz.  in  the  Baltic  question, 
that  men  have  gone  overland,  from 


VII.]  ADAM    ON    THE    BALTIC  531 

desert  of  the  Getae,  was  the  limit  of  that  fourth  gulf  of  Europe, 
which  commenced  at  the  Hellespont;  this  Marsh,  according 
to  the  same  authority,  was  itself  a  hay  of  the  Northern 
Ocean;  and  Adam  is  evidently  disposed  to  think1  that  the 
Baltic  (otherwise  the  Eastern,  Barbarian,  or  Scythian  Gulf) 
formed  the  connection  between  the  Marsh  in  question  and 
the  Northern  Seas,  which  by  these  channels  might  be  said 
to  encircle  Scythia.  Einhard,  the  biographer  of  Charlemagne, 
is  also  regarded  as  an  important  authority  here;  true,  he  had 
given  no  name  to  this  long  and  narrow  gulf,  which  stretched 
for  an  unknown  distance  from  west  to  east,2  while  in  breadth 
it  never  exceeded  a  hundred  miles ;  but  in  the  main 
his  description 3  is  quoted  and  adopted,  without  dispute 
in  some  places,  and  with  slight  modification  in  others.  In 
the  spirit  of  his  teacher,  Adam  places  Birca  in  Gothic 
Sweden,  just  opposite  the  town  of  Jumna  and  the  mouth  of 
the  Oder,  and  declares  that  the  breadth  of  the  Baltic  from 
South  to  North  was  very  moderate,  and  that  the  length  had 
never  been  properly  computed.  Yet  the  Bremen  chronicler 
is  aware  that  the  Baltic  was  not  entirely  confined  to  a  main 
channel  running  due  east  and  west,  but  that  it  threw  out 
arms  or  branches  far  and  wide  ;  he  was  also  aware  that  its 
breadth  increased  as  it  penetrated  into  the  Continent.  Once 
more,  the  vague  dogmatism  of  Einhard  upon  the  '  unknown 
length '  of  the  gulf  (though  confirmed  by  King  Harald  4  of 
Norway  and  Ganuz  Wolf  the  Dane)  is  corrected  by  the 
narrative  of  some  Danish  mariners,  who  themselves  related 
how  with  a  favourino;  breeze  thev  had  s;one  in  a  month  from 


1  On  the  Baltic  cf.  Ad.  iv.  10, 
11,  16,  and  20  [chs.  217,  218,  223, 
229,  Lappenberg],  which  last  follows 
Capella  and  Einhard  more  doubtfully, 
and  Schols.  115,  117,  121.  The 
quotations  are  mostly  from  Einhard's 
Life  of  Charles  the  Great,  ch.  12, 


a  '  Above  the  Maeotid  Marsh.' 

3  Ignoring  the  northern  bend  of 
the  inland  sea.  as  a  whole. 

4  Har.liada,  who  had  in  vain 
attempted  to  reckon  the  size 
(whether  the  area  or  the  volume 
is  not  clear)  of  the  Baltic. 


532       GEOGRAPHICAL   THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  [Ch. 

their  own  country  to  Ostrogard  in  Russia.1  Around  the 
Baltic  Adam  groups — correctly  enough — a  number  of  peoples 
and  races:2  Danes,  on  the  southern  shore  towards  Saxony; 
Slavs,  within  and  without  the  diocese s  of  Hamburg,  from 
the  Elbe  to  the  Oder ;  Pomeranians,  Poles,  and  Wends, 
beyond  the  Oder ;  Eussians  in  the  Far  East ;  Northmen  and 
Swedes  on  the  North.  The  kingdom  of  Eussia,  or  '  Euzzia,' 
he  regards  as  the  most  distant  and  extensive  province  of 
the  Wends,  terminating  the  Baltic  Gulf  on  the  East ;  to  the 
north  of  Eussia,  and  in  the  north-east  coiner  of  the  Baltic, 
he  seems  to  place  the  Land  of  Women  (or  of  Amazons)  and 
the  home  of  the  Turks,  perhaps  supposed  to  lie  between 
Eussia  and  Sweden. 

Adam  was  well  aware  that  the  Baltic  joined  the  Western, 
Britannic,  or  German  Sea,  itself  a  part  of  the  all-encircling 
and  infinite  ocean,  by  which  men  could  sail  round  from 
Scandinavia  to  the  Byzantine  lands ;  one  section  of  this 
journey,  the  passage  from  Denmark  to  England,  might  be 
made  in  three  days  with  a  favourable  wind.4  To  the  south 
of  the  Britannic  Sea  was  Saxony  (itself  bounded  on  the 
south  by  the  Rhine,  as  '  Slavia '  by  the  Elbe)  and  Frisia, 
sometimes  reckoned  as  a  part  of  Saxony  ;  to  the  west  were 
the  Britons  ;  to  the  east  Danes  and  Northmen  ;  to  the  north 
the  Orkneys  and  Iceland,  '  at  the  extremity  of  the  world'; 
thence  the  encompassing  ocean  flowed  westward  by  Ireland, 


1  On  the  Baltic  investigations  of 
Harold  Hardrada  and  Ganuz  Wolf, 
cf.  Ad.  iv.  11  [ch-  218,  Lappenberg], 
and  Schol.  116  on  Ruzzia  and 
Ostrogard. 

2  On  the  peoples  of  the  Baltic 
littoral,  cf.  Ad.  ii.  16;  iv.  12,  13, 
14  [chs.  62,  220-222,  Lappenherg]. 

3  Parruchia.  Among  smaller  Slav 
tribes  Adam  mentions  Wilzi  and 
Leuticii    immediately    west    of    the 


Oder  ;  with  the  Turks  he  couples  the 
Slavonic  Wizzi,  Lami,  and  Scuta. 

4  On  the  Western  Ocean  or  North 
Sea  in  general,  cf.  Ad.  ii.  50;  cf. 
also,  iv.  10  ;  iii.  70  [chs.  89,  217, 
201,  Lappenberg],  the  last  especially 
refers  to  Adalbert's  projected 
journey  to  Denmark,  Sweden,  Nor- 
way, the  Orkneys  and  Iceland,  from 
which  Svein  Estrithson  dissuaded 
him. 


VII.]  ADAM    ON    THE    NORTHERN    OCEAN  533 

eastward  by  Norway.  The  northern  part  of  the  sea  was 
called  the  Ocean  of  Darkness,  and  the  chief  islands  herein 
were  Thule,  Gronland,1  Halagland,2  and  Vinland,  all 
apparently  supposed  to  lie  due  north  of  Norway,  close  to  the 
edges  of  the  abyss.  But  even  in  these  distant  lands  (where 
Adam  remarks  on  the  'wild  vines  and  self-sown  wheat'  of 
Vinland),  and  in  regions  nearer  home,  he  does  not  merely 
give  us  a  list  of  names,  but  he  clothes  these  dry  bones 
with  something  of  a  body.  For  in  most  of  the  countries  he 
touches  on  he  has  many  a  detail  to  tell  us  about  the  soil 
and  its  products,  the  animals  and  the  people  of  various 
regions,  their  mode  of  life,  their  language,  and  their  real 
or  supposed  relationship  to  other  races  ;  in  all  this  he  is 
constantly  reminding  us  of  his  superiority  to  the  common 
mediaeval  writer. 

So  far,  we  have  followed  Adam  in  his  treatment  of 
Northern  lands  from  two  centres,  or  geographical  points 
of  vantage, — the  Baltic  and  the  North  Sea  ;  but  his  most 
elaborate  descriptions  are  compiled  from  a  third — his  own 
town  of  Bremen  and  country  of  Saxony.  A  good  deal  of 
repetition,  and  even  contradiction,  is  caused  by  this  continual 
re-arrangement  of  his  scheme,  probably  due  to  revision  of 
his  material  at  different  periods  ;  but  repetitions  and  con- 
tradictions are  notes  of  mediaeval  literature.  As  to  Saxony, 
he  is  content  to  repeat  from  Einhard  that  it  contained  no 
small  part  of  the  German  lands,3  and  was  bounded  by  Frisia 
on  the  west,  by  Franconia  and  Thuringia  on  the  south, 
by  Normania  on  the  north,  and  by  the  country  of  the 
Obodritae  on  the  east.  It  is  equally  curious  that  he  says 
nothing   of   the   Harz  Mountains,  unless   he   includes   them 


1  Greenland. 

2  Halagaland  or  Halogaland. 

3  Ad.  i.  1-5,  from  Einhard,  Life  of 
Charles,    15 ;    cf.    also,    Ad.    ii.    19, 


[chs.  1-4,  C6,  Lappenberg],  the  last 
mainly  concerned  with  the  Slavonic 
peoples  to  the  East  of  Saxony  as  far 
as  Kiev  '  Chive.' 


534       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch. 


in  the  '  few  hills '  that  broke  the  Saxon  plain.  The  rivers 
of  this  region,  and  especially  the  Elbe,  now  maintained 
(according  to  Adam)  a  large  ship  traffic  ;  but  the  province 
grew  no  vines ;  and  here  we  have  no  doubt  an  allusion 
to  other  German  districts  whose  wine  was  already  famous. 
From  his  own  observation,  or  theory,  he  adds  the  comparison 
of  Saxony  to  a  triangle,  one  angle  stretching  south  to  the 
Rhine,  another  north  to  the  country  of  Hadelohe,  the  third 
east  beyond  the  Elbe.1  But  the  province  is  not  always 
defined  in  the  same  manner ;  for  both  a  wider  and  a  narrower 
conception  of  Saxonia  occur ;  in  the  latter  sense,  it  is 
bounded  eastward  by  the  Elbe  ; 2  in  the  former  it  reaches 
beyond  that  stream  and  includes  the  Nordalbingians  and 
the  Slavonic  Sorabi,  whose  land  stretched  far  into  Altmark. 
Officially,  however,  the  eastern  border  of  the  Saxon  land 
was  defined  with  sufficient  clearness  by  Charles  the  Great 
and  later  Emperors  ;  and  this  border  is  minutely  described 
by  Adam,  from  its  '  southern '  point  on  the  Elbe,  near 
Lauenburg,  to  its  '  northern '  on  the  Baltic,  near  the  Bay 
of  Kiel.  The  details  here  given  may  have  been  drawn  from 
an  old  map  at  Bremen  or  elsewhere,  in  the  Bishop's  library, 
or  the  Chapter  archives  ;  but  if  so,  the  map  in  question 
cannot  have  been  very  scientific.  Eor  Adam's  sketch 
distorts  Nordalbingia  no  less  than  Saxony  ;  and  as  the 
latter  has  the  Rhine  for  its  southern  boundary,  so  the 
former  has  the  Elbe. 

To    the    west,    beyond   the    Wapling   Marsh3   and    the 


1  Acl.  i.  1  [ch.  1,  Lappenberg]. 
From  angle  to  angle  was  a  journey 
of  three  days,  except  for  the  part 
beyond  the  Elbe,  where  the  Sorabi 
lived,  the  Xordalbingians  dwelling 
on  this  side  of  the  river. 

2  As  in  Einhard.  On  the  wider 
sense,  ef.   Schol,  19,  which  speaks  of 


the  Sorabi  between  the  Elbe  and  Sala, 
and  '  others '  of  this  tribe  as  living 
even  beyond  the  Ara  in  Altmark. 
Perhaps  this  was  a  result  of  know- 
ledge acquired  by  Adam  during  his 
residence  in  Magdeburg. 
3  The  modern  river  Wapel. 


VII.] 


ADAM    ON    SAXONY     AND    SLAVONIA 


535 


mouths  of  the  river  Wirraha,  Saxonia  was  bordered  or 
continued  by  Frisia,  a  maritime  region  inaccessible  from 
its  pathless  marshes.1  Orosius  had  said  the  same  thing 
about  Saxony  itself,  but  Adam  knew  the  country  too  well 
to  endorse  the  statement  for  his  own  time  ;  woods  and 
marshes  are  indeed  features  in  his  picture  of  this  region, 
cutting  off  one  parrochia  or  one  mark  from  another,  but  the 
province,  as  a  whole,  watered  by  three  large  rivers,2  is  no 
longer  a  'pathless  waste.'  The  chronicler  touches  with  a 
light  hand,  and  apparently  with  little  interest,  the  geography 
of  Western  countries.  His  eye  is  fixed  on  the  wild  and 
little  known  regions  to  the  east  and  north,  and  in  this 
characteristic,  rare  enough  in  later  times,  and  extremely 
remarkable  in  a  German  ecclesiastic  of  the  eleventh  century, 
lies  no  small  part  of   his  value  to  the  modern  reader. 

To  the  East  of  Saxony,  Slavonia  or  Slavania  is  defined 
as  the  most  extensive  province  of  Germany,  inhabited  by 
Vandals,  Wends,3  or  Winuli,  lying  between  Elbe  and  Oder, 
and  shut  in  by  strong  barriers  of  woodland,  marsh,  or  river. 
Reckoning  with  it  the  countries  of  the  cognate  Poles  and 
Bohemians,  who  lived  on  the  other  side  of  the  Oder,  used 
the  same  language,  and  were  characterised  by  the  same 
habits,  it  was  fully  ten  times  greater  than  Saxony.  East- 
ward it  stretched  infinitely  ffPr  to  Hungary,4  Bulgaria,4  and 
'  Greece '  (or  the  Lands  of  the  Eastern  Church)  ;  its  breadth 
was  measured  from  the  Elbe  to  the  Baltic,  from  south  to 
north  ;  and  on  its  western  extremity  it  touched  the  central 
districts  of  the  "reat  diocese  of  Hainburg-and- Bremen.     It 


1  Sch.  3,  which  gives  to  Frisia  47 
'pagi,'  and  adds  to  the  other  boun- 
daries mentioned  in  the  text,  the 
marsh  of  Emisgoe  and  the  Ocean. 

2  The  Elbe,  Wisurges,  and  Emisa. 

3  Tho  name  Winuli  seems  to  occur 


first  in  Aclain,  and  is  perhaps  his  vari- 
ation   of   the   common   form    Winedi 
or  Ve.ne.ti.  Winuli  qui  olim  Wandali, 
ii.  13  [ch.  t>4,  Lappenbei'g]. 
4  Uhgria  and  Beguaria. 


536       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch. 

was  divided  in  two  parts  by  the  river  Peene  or  Panis,1  and 
the  Western  Slavs  on  'this'  side  of  the  stream2  belonged  to 
the  jurisdiction  of  Hamburg.  It  was  of  these  Western  Slavs, 
near  Magdeburg  and  Hamburg,  that  Adam  knew  most ;  he 
was  less  acquainted  with  those  between  the  middle  Elbe  and 
Oder ;  he  had  but  a  vague  idea  of  the  trans-Oder  nations. 
Yet  the  trade  of  Bremen  with  Jumna  and  other  Baltic 
havens  had  spread  a  certain  knowledge  even  of  these  more 
distant  races,  and  Adam  is  perhaps  not  free  from  the  common 
tendency  of  reserving  his  highest  admiration  for  the  remote, 
obscure,  and  strange.  The  'noble  city'  of  Jumna3  was 
strongly  hostile  to  the  Faith ;  and  Saxons  were  only  allowed 
to  live  there  if  they  dissembled  their  Christianity,  and  did  not 
insist  on  practising  the  rites  of  the  Church  in  public.  But 
so  notable  a  store  of  merchandise  was  there  to  be  found, 
and  so  many  rarities  could  only  be  obtained  in  its  market, 
that  peoples  of  every  nation  and  climate  flocked  to  it. 
From  Hamburg  and  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe  was  seven 
days'  journey  by  land ;  and  on  the  other  side  men  took  ship 
from  Jumna  eastwards  to  the  Land  of  the  Prussians4  and 


1  On  the  divisions  of  Slavania  and 
the  river  Panis,  cf.  Ad.  ii.  18  ;  iii. 
18  [chs.  64,  137,  Lappenberg],  the 
last  on  the  progress  of  Christianity 
beyond  the  Elbe  ;  Giesebreeht  and 
Lappenberg,  in  their  controversy 
abont  Adam's  Slavonia,  seem  to  ignore 
this  division  by  the  river  Panis. 

2  As  to  whom  Adam's  detailed  de- 
scriptions contrast  forcibly  with  his 
meagre  and  obscure  notices  of  the  more 
distant  Slavs.  What  he  says  of  the 
latter  is  generally  introduced  with  a 
dicitur.  Of  course  the  pagan  Slavs 
were  really  outside  his  province,  as 
historian  of  the  Church  of  Hamburg. 

3  Called  Jumneta  by  Helmondius,  i. 
2  ;  it  must  have  been  on  the  site  of,  or 


near  to,  the  modern  Swinemilnde  or 
Wbllin,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Oder. 
Here  the  products  of  Byzantium, 
and  even  perhaps  some  of  India, 
were  to  be  found  ;  cf.  Heyd,  Com- 
merce du  Levant,  i.  77-7S  ;  St'oixm, 
Gemcilde  des  russischen  Iteichs,  iv.  45. 
4  On  the  Province  (miscalled  isle) 
of  Semland  (  =  Zemlya  ?),  and  the 
other  Baltic  islands  adjoining  the 
Slav  coasts,  cf.  Ad.  iv.  18  [ch.  225, 
Lappenberg].  On  the  Vistula,  cf. 
Ad.  i.  2  ;  ii.  78  [chs.  2,  117,  Lappen- 
berg]. Einhaid,  Life  of  Charles,  15. 
The  name  Wissula,  Wisara,  or  Visula 
(  =  Vistula.)  is  applied  by  Adam  not 
only  to  the  great  Wendish  river,  but 
also  to  the   Saxon  stream  "Weser  or 


YII.]   ADAM  ON  SLAVONIA.  PRUSSIANS,  AND  RUSSIANS    537 

the  Russian  pori  of  Ostrogarcl,  a  voyage  of  fourteen  days. 
Adam  knows  nothing  except  the  name  of  the  Vistula,  but 
he  has  a  good  deal  to  say  about  the  Prussians.  The  island 
of  Semland  or  Samland,  which  they  inhabited,  was  on  the 
borders  of  the  Poles  and  Russians  ;  and  as  a  people  they 
were  beyond  dispute  the  most  humane  of  mankind,  ever 
ready  to  assist  ship-wrecked  mariners,  setting  little  value  on 
gold  and  silver,  but  much  on  their  store  of  furs,  and  especially 
on  their  marten  skins,  which  they  bartered  for  articles  of 
clothing.1  Excellent  in  all  other  respects,  they  had  a  fierce 
hatred  of  Christianity,  guarding  their  sacred  groves  and 
fountains  with  jealous  care  against  the  approach  of  visitors. 
They  were  blue-eyed,  red-faced,  and  hirsute  in  appearance  ; 
their  food  was  horse-flesh  ;  their  drink  mares'  milk  or  even 
blood  ;  and  their  government  was  utterly  democratic,  for  they 
endured  no  lordship  among  themselves.  In  all  this  Adam 
is  perhaps  (like  Tacitus)  contrasting  the  savage  virtues  of 
a  primitive  ideal  with  the  civilised  corruptions  of  a  more 
'  refined '  society.2 

Ruzzia  or  Russia,  the  last  and  greatest  province  of  the 
Wends,  called  Osirogard  by  the  barbarous  or  pagan  Danes, 
and  by  some  others  Hmigard  or  Ghungard  (as  being  the 
original  home  of  the  Huns)  is  described  by  our  author 
as  one  might  speak  of  a  fertile  garden,3  abounding  with  every 
good  thing.4     The  metropolis  of  the  country  was  the  proud, 


Visurgcs  [ii.  78  ;  ch.  117,  Lappen- 
berg],  while  Einhard  likewise  appears 
to  interchange  these  terms. 

1Adam  especially  mentions  the 
women's  garments  called  faldones  or 
feldr. 

2  In  this  connection  we  may  notice 
the  journeys  of  the  famous  merchant 
Vidgaut  of  'Samland,'  who  travelled 
widely  in  the  Russian  plains,  c.  a.d. 


ships,  which,  according  to  A  dam  him- 
self, frequented  the  Swedish  mark  of 
Birca ;  ef.  Ral'n,  Antiquilcs  russes, 
ii.  134,  etc.  ;  Adam  in  Pertz,  M.G. 
SS.  vii.  305  ;  and  Heyd,  Commerce 
die  Levant,  i.  75-76. 

3  The  Scholiast,  116,  expressly  calls 
it  so. 

4  Adam,  iv.  11,   13,  19,  and  Schs. 
63,   118,   116,  on  Ruzzia  and  Ostro- 


1110-1120,  as  well  as  the 'Samland'   i   gard    [olis.    66,    218,    221,    Lappen- 


538       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  [Oh. 

ambitions  Kiev  or  '  Chive,'  emulous  of  the  sceptre  of  Con- 
stantinople, that  brightest  glory  of  Greece. 

All  these  nations  beyond  the  Oder, — Pomeranians,  Poles, 
Prussians,  Bohemians,  and  Russians, — are  included  in  Adam's 
'  Slavonia '  in  the  wider  sense  of  that  word  ;  for  (as  in  the 
case  of  Saxony)  his  use  of  the  term  varies  greatly  in  ex- 
tension.1 On  the  other  hand,  it  is  in  the  narrower  sense 
that  he  is  speaking,  when  he  tells  us  that  Churches  had  been 
set  up  everywhere  in  Slav-land,  and  that  the  country  was 
divided  into  eighteen  districts.2  There  are  few  mediaeval 
subjects  more  confusing  than  the  distribution  of  the  Slavonic 
peoples  and  their  proper  nomenclature.  For  although  their 
tribes  appear  to  have  been  fixed  in  their  habitations,  they 
have  all  the  evasiveness  of  Nomade  races,  through  the  in- 
cessant combinations  and  dissolutions  of  national  groups. 

Through  the  cloud  of  names  and  details  given  by  Adam, 
in  his  detailed  summary  of  the  South  Baltic  Slavs,  we  may 
discern  the  definite  existence  of  this  race  in  Eastern 
Holstein,3  in  the  islands  of  Eehmarn  and  Btigen,  in  Mecklen- 
burg, in  East  and  West  Prussia,  and  in  Pomerania.  The 
people  of  Piiigen,  near  Jumna  and  the  mouth  of  the  Panis, 
were  unique4  in  their  valour  and  their  enjoyment  of  kingly 
government ;    they    were  powerful,   piratical,5   and    fiercely 


berg].        The     extreme     aptness     of 

Adam's  reference  to  Kiev  or  '  Chive  ' 

and  its  ambitions  needs  no  emphasis. 

1  For  the  wider  sense,  cf.  Ad.  ii. 


Sch.  117  [chs.  225,  226,  Lappenberg]. 
Kugen  was  not  far  from  Jumna. 

5  Like   the    men   of  Fehmam    or 
Fembre,  of.   the  Inibra  or  Fembra  of 


13,    19;    iv.    13;    for  the  narrower,  |    Ad.    iv.     16,     18     [chs.     223,     225, 

ii.   24,    40,   46-47,    69  ;    iii.   19  [chs.  |    Lappenberg].       Fehmarn    is    called 

60,  66,  221,  69,  138,  83,  86-87,   105,  I    Imbra  on  a  chart  of  the  fourteenth 

Lappenberg].  !    century.     Elsewhere,   ii.   19  [ch.  66, 

2  Perhaps  the  sub-divisions  of  the  i    Lappenberg],    Adam  seems   to  place 
diocese  of  Oldenburg.  the  Runi,    Rugi,    or  Riigen   folk   at 

3  About  the  modern  Oldenburg  and  the  mouth  of  the  Panis, — in  kostio 
the  port  of  Heiliuenhafen.  Peanis  fluvii, — adjoining  the  town  of 

4  Among  the  Slavs.   Ad.  iv.  18,  and  Dimine.      He   is  the  first  to  locate 


VII.] 


ADAM    ON    SLAVONIA    AND   SCANDINAVIA 


539 


pagan  ;  later  writers  celebrate  their  devotion  to  trade,  and 
notice  the  resort  of  fishermen  to  their  island  in  the  November 
of  each  year.  The  town  of  Retra,  four  days'  journey  from 
Hamburg,  and  apparently  situated  between  the  Oder  and 
the  Panis,  was  the  capital  of  the  chief  Slavonic  tribe  and 
the  metropolis  of  all  the  Slavs ;  and  here  was  a  famous  idol- 
temple,  where  a  Christian  bishop  named  John  had  paid  with 
his  life  for  his  ill-timed  preaching.1 

Adam  quits  Slavonia  with  a  short  reference  to  the  Oder, 
that  greatest  of  Slavonic  rivers,  which  rose  in  the  depths  of 
forests  like  the  Elbe,  and  near  its  source  was  not  so  far  re- 
moved from  the  latter,  though  in  its  lower  course  it  diverged 
widely.  The  chronicler  now  passes  to  Scandinavia,  the  next 
great  division  of  his  topography,  which  he  considers  as  ;  almost 
wholly  divided  into  islands,'  but  already  grouped  in  three 
great  realms,  federations,  or  peoples, — of  Norway,  Sweden, 
and  Denmark.  Of  these  he  takes  the  last  first,  probably  as 
the  nearest  to  his  home,  and  as  one  of  the  lands  with  which 
he  was  most  intimately  acquainted.  It  was  bounded  to  the 
south  by  the  Eyder,2  and  was  severed  from  Norway  by  the 
strait  called  Otto's  Sound?  where  the;  Restorer  of  the  Empire 


this  tribe  ;  Widukincl  (iii.  54),  is  the 
first  to  mention  them.  No  tribe  of 
Slavs  was  more  celebrated  in  the 
twelfth  -  century  chroniclers.  On 
Magnopolis,  ciuitas  inclita  Obodri- 
torum,  and  the  Mecklenburg  Slavs, 
cf.  Ad.  iii.  20,  19,  50  [chs.  13S, 
139,  166,  167,  Lappenberg]  ;  ibid,  for 
Razzisburg  or  Razzispurg  and  other 
cities  of  the  Obodriti.  The  Lingones, 
beyond  the  Obodriti,  mentioned  by 
Adam,  occur  in  the  ninth-century 
Annals  of  Fulda.  At  the  mouth  of 
the  Panis  was  the  town  of  Limine. 

1  Ad.    iii.    50    [ch.    167,    Lappen- 
berg].    The  temple  was  dedicated  to 


Rcdigast,  the  Riedegost  of  Thietmar, 
vi.  17  ;  it  seems  to  have  been  on  an 
island  in  a  lake  or  marsh. 

2  As  fixed  by  the  Emperor  Conrad 
and  by  Cnut  the  Great.  The  region 
between  the  Eyder  [cf.  iv.  1,  ch.  '208, 
Lappenberg],  and  the  gulf  and  March 
of  Slia  (or  the  Sleswig  March)  divided 
Denmark  from  Saxony  and  Nordal- 
bmgia.  This  strip  of  German  territory 
was  now  possessed  by  Denmark  ;  Ad. 
ii.  3,  54  [chs.  50,  93,  Lappenberg]. 

3  la  cum  unguium,  qui  JVendila 
dicitur,  Adam,  iv.  1  [ch.  208,  Lappen- 
berg]. In  iv.  16  [ch.  223,  Lappen- 
berg].    Wendila  is  an  island. 


540       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  [Ch. 


made  his  way  to  the  Northern  Sea  at  the  extremity  of 
Jutland.1  The  wood  of  Isarnho  in  which  the  Eyder  rose 
was  a  more  effectual  wall  of  partition  between  Germany 
and  Denmark  than  the  river ;  to  the  south-east  the  forest 
stretched  away  to  the  Slav  town  of  Liubicen,  or  Old 
Lubeck. 

Jutland  is  characterised  by  Adam  (almost  in  the  terms 
of  a  modern  handbook)  as  sterile,  the  soil  thickly  impreg- 
nated with  salt,  the  population  thin  and  scattered  ;  its  only 
towns  of  any  note  lay  upon  inlets  of  the  sea.2  From  one 
of  its  three  chief  ports  called  Sliaswig  or  Schleswig,  ships 
sailed  to  Slavonia,  Sweden,  Semland,  and  '  Greece '  (in  which 
Ostrogard  or  Eussia  is  obviously  included)  ;  from  another, 
Eipa,  men  journeyed  to  Frisia,  England,  and  Saxony  ;  from 
Aarhus  was  the  route  to  Norway  and  the  Danish  Isles, 
the  chief  of  which  was  '  Seland '  or  Zealand,  in  the  depths 
of  the  Baltic,  containing  the  royal  seat  of  the  Danish  Kings 
at  Eoskilde 3  and  the  gold  hoards  of  the  Vikings.4  Thence 
one  might  look  across  to  Scania  or  the  southernmost  and 
peninsular  province  of  Sweden,  then  reckoned  as  the  'last 
part '  of  Denmark.5  Finally,  among  these  outlying  Dane- 
1  At  Lymfiord,  the  modern  Vend 


syssel ;  cf.  Saxo  Grammaticus,  bk.  x., 
Sch.  95.  Jutland  is  Dania  cis-nvirina 
in  Adam.  ii.  3  ;  iv.  1  [clis.  50,  208, 
Lappenberg].  Dania  trans-marina 
includes  the  Danish  Isles  and  Scania. 
In  Adam,  iv.5  [ch.  212,  Lappenberg], 
a  number  of  distance-reckonings  are 
given  between  Seland  or  Zealand, 
Jutland,  Fune,  Scania,  Aarhus,  Lund- 
(ona),  and  the  Strait  of  Norway  (the 
Kattegat)  on  the  north,  as  well  as 
to  the  Sinus  Slavonicus  on  the  south. 
2  E.g.  the  three  Bishoprics  of  Slias- 
wig (Schleswig),  Ripa,  and  Aarhus, 
cf.  Bede,  Hist.  Ecc.  i.  15  ;  Adam,  i. 
27,  59,  61  ;  ii.  3,  34  ;  and  iv.  1  [chs. 


21,  46-47,  50,  77,  208,  Lappenberg]. 
Sliaswig  was  named  from  the  arm  of 
the  Baltic  called  Mia  on  which  it 
stood  ;  its  harbour  was  also  named 
Heidaba.  Very  little  is  added  to 
Adam's  description  of  Jutland  by 
Helmoldus,  Saxo  Grammaticus,  and 
Arnold  the  Slav  chronicler,  except 
that  the  latter  places  the  Amazons 
here. 

3  '  Roscbild'  or  '  Roschald'  in  Adam. 

4  Of  Copenhagen,  or  Hafnia,  Adam 
says  nothing.  Saxo  Grammaticus,  c. 
a.d.  1180,  is  the  first  to  mention  it ; 
cf.  Ad.  iv.  5,  6  [chs.  212,  213, 
Lappenberg]. 

5  Ad.  iv.  7  [ch.  214,  Lappenberg]. 


VII.]  ADAM    ON  DENMARK,    NORWAY,  ETC.  541 

lands,  besides  Bornholm  l  (Holmus  or  Hulmo)  in  the  Baltic, 
famous  as  a  good  harbour  for  ships  on  their  way  to  '  Greece ' 
and  the  Barbarian  lands  of  the  East,  comes  Helgoland  or 
Heligoland2  in  the  North  Sea,  confused  by  Adam  with  one 
of  the  Frisian  islets,  and  identified  with  the  old  cyclic  story 
of  a  country  ever  shrinking  before  the  storms  of  ocean.3 

And  now,  passing  beyond  the  Danish  Isles,  '  another 
world,'  in  our  chronicler's  imagination,  was  revealed  in 
Sweden  and  Norway,  '  extensive  regions  of  the  north 
hitherto  almost  unknown,'  where  King  Svein,  the  son  of 
Estrith,  for  twelve  years  had  fought  and  journeyed.  From 
his  report  of  the  land,  if  that  might  be  trusted,  it  was  certain 
no  one  could  traverse  Norway  in  less  than  one  month,  or 
Sweden  4  in  less  than  two  ;  but  in  this  reckoning  the  Danish 
Scania  is  not  included  ;  the  latter  was  commonly  assumed 
to  extend  to  the  narrow,  hilly,  wooded  neck  of  land  called 
Smaland,  beyond  which  '  Grothia '  and  '  Suedia '  began. 

At  the  very  end  of  the  world,  stretching  into  the 
extremest  region  of  the  north,  was  the  mountainous  and 
infertile  Norway,  commencing  at  the  '  prominent  rocks ' 
overhanging  the  Baltic  Straits,  and  then  bending  backwards 
towards  the  Pole,  and  encircling  the  shore  of  ocean  with  its 
winding  coasts,  till  at  the  Riphaean  Hills,  covered  with 
eternal  snow,  it  ceased  together  with  the  weary  earth 
itself. 


1  Ad.  iv.  8,  16  [chs.  215,  223, 
Lappenberg], 

2  Otherwise  'Fohr'  or  'Farria,' 
Adam,  iv.  3,  and  Sell.  104  [eh.  216, 
Lappenberg].  The  older  name  of 
Foietisland  is  also  given  by  Adam, 
who  places  it  near  to  Frisia  or 
Wisara,  three  days'  rowing- voyage 
from  England,  over  against  Hadeloa 
or  Efadcln,  to  the  south  of  the  Elbe 
estuary.       Its   length,    according   to 


Adam,  was  now  scarcely  eight  miles, 
its  breadth  four. 

3  A  story  also  associated  with 
Taprobane  in  Solinus,  etc. 

4  This  lesser  Sweden  included  the 
whole  region  between  56J°  and  62° 
N.  Lat.,  and  for  this  Svein's  estimate 
is  not  excessive.  Cf.  on  Scandinavia, 
Ad.  ii  22,  23  ;  iv.  24,  25,  30,  81, 
32  [chs.  68  69,  232-233,  239-241, 
Lappenberg]  ;     and    Schs.     122-132, 


542      GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch. 


In  his  '  Sweden,'  a  land  rich  in  cereals  and  honey,  richest 
of  all  in  cattle,  Adam  follows  carefully  the  local  divisions 
of  'Svithiod'  and  'Gauthiod,'1 — the  former  including  the 
region  about  Lake  Malar,  the  cradle  of  the  Swedish  king- 
dom, and  separated  from  the  latter  by  the  marshy  depression 
in  which  Lakes  Wener  and  Wettern  lie.  Among  the  towns 
of  Sweden  the  most  notable  were  Birca  and  Upsala,2  of 
which  the  former,  in  the  'middle'  of  the  country,  looked 
straight  across  the  Baltic  towards  Jumna  ;  for,  as  we  have 
seen,  Adam's  conception  of  the  Northern  Pontus  requires  a 
main  direction  east  and  west,  though  allowing  for  an  arm 
or  branch  which  tended  towards  the  Pole.  To  this  Birca, 
perhaps  the  Isle  of  Bjorko  in  Lake  Malar,  resorted  Danes, 
Northmen,  Slavs,  Sembi,  and  other  Scythian  peoples  en- 
gaged in  commerce,  all  attracted  thither  by  its  admirable 
position,  almost  equi-distant  from  every  Baltic  coast.3 
Upsala,  or  Ubsola,  accounted  a  holy  city  (just  as  Birca  was 
reckoned  a  leading  market),  and  possessing  a  famous  heathen 
temple,  where  Odin,  Thor,  and  Freya  were  appeased  with 
human    sacrifice,    is    but    slightly    noticed    in    the    Bremen 


Much  of  this  is  from  Solinus,  chs.  15, 
17,  30 ;  Paul  the  Deacon,  History  of 
the  Lombards,  i.  5  ;  and  Martianus 
Capella,  663,  666,  683.  As  to  its 
chief  town  Trondhjem  (Nidaros),  and 
the  routes  from  Norwaythither,  Adam 
gives  us  nothing  of  special  value. 

1  Except  that  'Gauthiod' is  pushed 
by  Adam  a  little  too  far  north,  and 
Sudermania  included  in  it;  iv.  21. 
and  Sch.  126  ;  cf.  also  iii.  14  [chs. 
132,  230,  Lapp.].  The  river  Goth- 
Elba,  the  Albis  or  Elbe  of  Scandi- 
navia, flowing  'through  the  midst  of 
the  Gothic  peoples '  into  the  ocean, 
on  whose  right  were  Goths  and  Danes, 
and  on  whose  left  Northmen  only,  is 
the  modern  Gotha-Elf. 


2  Ad.  iv.  20,  26,  28  ;  i.  62  ;  Sch. 
121  [chs.  47,  229,  234,  236,  Lapp.]. 
The  Gothic  capital  Scarane  (the 
modern  Skaraborg)  near  Lake  Wener, 
ii.  56,  maybe  added.  Adam  divides 
Gothia  into  Wcstra-Gothia  and  Ostro- 
Gothia,  the  former  lying  nearest  to 
Scania,  the  latter  stretching  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  Birca. 

3  E.g.  from  Scania,  five  days,  from 
'Ruzzia'  (Ostrogard),  five.  Its  great- 
ness seems  to  have  ended  about  1220, 
when  it  was  sacked  by  Esthonian 
pirates  ;  but  even  in  the  twelfth 
century  Visby,  in  Gothland,  had  al- 
ready quite  eclipsed  Birca ;  cf.  Ad.  Sch. 
138."  On  Upsala,  cf.  Ad.  iv.  26,  27,  28 
[chs.  234-237,  Lappenberg], 


VII.] 


ADAM    ON    SWEDEN    AND    NORWAY 


543 


Annalist ;  yet  brief  as  are  his  words,  Adam  seems  not  un- 
mindful of  the  unique  position  of  the  city,  the  first  true 
centre  of  Swedish  nationality,  one  of  the  most  ancient 
homes  of  Northern  letters,  and  even  more  sacred  (and  so 
more  prominent)  in   Pagan  than  in  Christian  times. 

Between  Norway  and  Sweden,  but  to  the  north  of  the 
latter,  Adam  places  various  Finnish  tribes  inhabiting  the 
western  parts  of  Halland  and  reaching  down  to  the  Gulf 
of  Bothnia,  the  '  Scrito-Finns '  of  several  mediaeval  writers.1 
Still  farther  towards  the  north-east  lived  pagan  '  North- 
men,' of  monstrous  life  and  visage,  and  given  to  magic 
and  incantations,  by  which  they  could  even  draw  great 
fish  out  of  the  sea.  Their  dwarfish  stature,  bearded  women, 
huntsmen's  habits,  and  rare  and  precious  furs — black  fox, 
black  hare,  white  marten,  and  so  forth — are  suggestive  (in 
Adam's  description)  of  the  Lapp  branch  of  that  great  Finnish 


1  Of.  Ad.  iv.  24,  25  [chs.  232-233, 
Lappenberg] ;  Saxo  Grammaticus, 
Historia  Daniae,  bk.  i. ,  Pref.  ;  Paul 
the  Deacon,  i.  5,  who  explains  the 
term  'Scrito-Finns'  by  the  German 
word,  sehreiten  {stride),  probably  refer- 
ring to  the  movements  of  these  people 
on  snow-shoes  ;  of.  the  proverb  Die 
Sonne  scheint,  der  Sehnee  fallt,  dar 
Finne  schreitet.  Weinhold,  Att-Nor- 
dischcs  Leben,  p.  307,  and  Peschel, 
Erdkunde,  p.  88.  Saxo  places  Hel- 
singland,  the  capital  of  the  Skrik- 
Finns,  or  Scrito-Finns,  on  the  west 
coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia.  In  iv. 
25  [ch.  233,  Lappenberg],  Adam 
repeats  q  summary  of  the  boiders  and 
neighbours  of  Sweden  ;  to  the  south 
the  Baltic,  to  the  north  the  Scrito- 
Finns,  to  the  east  the  Riphaean  Hills, 
etc. 

The  Ravennese  Geographer  (c.  a.i>. 
650)  places  the  '  patria  Scirdifen- 
norum   et   Rerefennorum '  in  a   cold 


hilly  country  on  the  Scythian  Ocean 
(iv.  12 ;  edition  by  Pinder  and  Parthey, 
p.  201 ) ;  even  Procopius,  in  the  middle 
of  the  sixth  century,  had  heard  the 
name  of  the  '  Sorithiphins,'  Anccdota, 
edition  by  Isambert,  1856, p.  602;  King 
iElfred  (c.  a.d.  890)  has  much  more 
definite  knowledge  of  the  '  Scrida- 
finnas,'  and  in  the  'Geography  of 
Europe,'  which  he  adds  to  Orosius, 
evidently  means  to  place  them  in  our 
Lapland ;  while  Olaus  Magnus,  five 
centuries  after  Adam  of  Bremen, 
describes  '  Scricfinnia '  as  the  land 
between  Finmark  and  Biarmia  {e.g. 
between  Hammerfest  and  Archangel : 
cf.  Historia  de  gentibus  septen- 
trionalibus,  i.  4.  "With  this  agrees 
Sebastian  Cabot's  world-map  of  1544, 
and  Gerard  Mercator's  map  of  Russia 
in  his  1  595  Atbis.  See  also  Hakluyt, 
Voyages,  i.  p.  2S3  (edition  of  1598- 
1600). 


544       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch. 

stock  which  in  the  eleventh  century  covered  all  the  north 
of  Eastern  Europe  and  Western  Asia,  from  the  Latitude  of 
Novgorod.  As  to  some  of  these  Hyperborean  peoples,  ancient 
wisdom  had  recorded  that  many  virtues  long  since  driven 
out  of  the  civilised  world  still  lingered  anion"  these  'out- 
casts,'  and  this  tradition  the  historian  did  not  venture 
wholly  to  reject ;  unhappily,  he  knew  the  Danes  too  well 
to  suppose  that  vice  was  absent  from  their  nature.  Of 
Swedes  and  Norwegians1  he  knew  less,  and  so  thought  more. 
Their  temperance  and  devotion  he  declared  were  alike 
marvellous  ;  their  life  was  patriarchal  and  '  most  noble ' ; 
untouched  by  luxury,  and  living  in  a  bracing,  barren,  and 
hilly  country,  they  were  the  bravest  of  men  in  war  and  the 
most  righteous  in  peace  ;  the  faults  of  piracy  and  passion 
were  alone  to  be  recorded.2  Thus  in  many  ways  these 
Arctic  races  (like  the  Prussians)  are  idealised  by  the  Bremen 
chronicler,  as  the  Old  Germans  had  been  by  the  moralising 
criticism  of  Tacitus,  eager  to  find  a  contrast  to  the  wicked- 
ness of  a  luxurious  society.  Yet  even  here  Adam  does 
not  surrender  himself  altogether  to  romance ;  and  he 
carefully  distinguishes  between  the  more  prosperous  and 
settled   families   of   the    Scandinavian    farming    class,   who 


1  Northmanni,  Ad.  iv.  30,  31 
[chs.  239,  240,  Lappenberg].  Ma- 
sudi  also  refers  to  the  black  fox  skins 
which  the  Arabs  brought  from  the 
Northern  peoples.  Among  other  furs 
Adam  mentions  the  skins  of  the 
white  bear  and  urus  (both  of  which 
lived  under  water),  and  of  the  bubalus, 
elax,  and  bison,  iv.  31,  end. 

In  iv.  25  [ch.  233,  Lappenberg], 
Adam  describes  the  strong,  agile, 
dwarfish  people  of  the  Far  North, 
evidently  Finnish  Lapps,  but  un- 
named, about  whom  King  Svein  had 
told  him  ;  their  home  was  in  moun- 


tains, but   they  incessantly  ravaged 
the  lowlands. 

2  On  the  peoples,  manners,  etc.,  of 
Scandinavia  and  Prussia,  cf.  Ad.  iv. 
IS,  21,  22-24,  25,  26,  27,  30,  31 
[chs.  225-227,  230-235,  239-240,  Lap- 
penberg], and  Schs.  118,  123,  125, 
134,  135,  137.  The  virtues  of  the 
Prussians,  as  Adam  thought,  had 
been  celebrated  by  Horace  under 
the  name  of  Getae  (Ad.  iv.  18). 
The  one  fault  of  the  Swedes  was  in 
midierum  copula  modum  nesciunt, 
iv.  21  [ch.  230,  Lappenberg]. 


VII.] 


EACES  OF  THE  FAR  NORTH 


545 


lived  by  tillage,  the  poor  herdsmen,  who  eked  out  their 
subsistence  by  piracy,  and  the  barbarous  hunters  and 
trappers  of  the  furthest  "North,  whose  lands  stretched  away 
eastward  to  those  Riphaean  Mountains  where  they  chased 
their  prey  over  the  snow 1  with  marvellous  agility  and 
strength.  Near  the  regions  of  the  last-named  an  ancient 
and  reliable  tradition  (which  had  been  lately  verified  beyond 
possibility  of  doubt  by  Adam's  contemporaries)  placed  the 
Amazons,  the  Cyclopes,  and  other  monstrous  races,  as  well 
as  the  more  human  Turks  and  Alans  ;  in  all  this  there  is 
an  evident  confusion  of  traditions  derived,  on  one  side,  from 
the  Caucasus,  on  the  other,  from  the  Ural  Mountains  and  the 
Central  Asian  Plains. 

Under  the  title  of  '  remote  islands '  in  the  Baltic,  Cour- 
land  and  Esthonia'2  are  also  noticed  as  possessions  of  Sweden  ; 
both  were  inhabited  by  cruel  pagans  ;  and  while  the  former 
was  not  far  from  the  Great  Scandinavian  market  of  Birca, 


1  'On  strange  vehicles'  (vehieuli) 
adds  Saxo,  Preface,  and  bk.  ii., 
evidently  alluding  to  the  snow-shoes 
of  the  Lapps.  On  these  subjects 
Adam  may  have  learnt  something 
from  Bishop  Adelward  of  Skaraborg, 
who  told  him  about  the  Terra 
Feminarum  of  the  Northern  Ama- 
zons, etc.  ;  cf.  Ad.  iii.  15  ;  iv.  14, 
19,  25  ;  Sch.  119  [chs.  134,  222,  228, 
233,  Lappenberg].  Whether  or  no 
the  proper  derivation  of  '  Cwenland ' 
is  from  the  'Quaines'  or  'Cayani,' 
as  some  have  thought,  the  Cwens 
were  doubtless  a  branch  of  the 
Finnish  stock  ;  their  country  cer- 
tainly lajr  upon  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia 
(called  after  them  the  Cwen  Sea), 
and  towards  the  northern  angle  of 
the  same.  They  are  usually  distin- 
guished by  mediaeval  geographers 
from  the   Lapps   or  Ter-Finns  ;    but 


the}'  were  certainly  of  the  same  race. 
The  legend  of  a  tribe  of  Finnish 
Amazons,  living  separate  from  men, 
is  based  on  a  misunderstanding  of 
the  name  of  '  Cwen  '  ( :  Woman ').  To 
perpetuate  the  race  these  female 
warriors  were  said  by  the  wilder 
mythologists  to  associate  at  fixed 
intervals  with  the  Cynocephali  of 
the  furthest  North,  monsters  often 
hunted  by  the  Russians,  according  to 
some  veracious  annalists  ;  cf.  iEthicus 
of  Istria,  edition  by  Wuttke,  pi.  15. 
J.  R.  Forster,  Entdecku  nyen  in  Norden , 
p.  75,  was  the  first  to  show  how  the 
Northern  Geographers,  knowing  only 
that  Cwen  meant  'female'  in  the 
Germanic,  Scandinavian,  and  Anglo- 
Saxon  dialects,  took  the  Finnish 
'  Cwens  to  be  a  northern  counter- 
part of  the  Amazons. 

2  '  Churland  '  and  'JEstland.1 


2    M 


546       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch. 


the  latter  was  near  Cwenland,  the  Kingdom  of  Women  or 
Eegion  of  the  Amazons,1  apparently  located  near  the  modern 
Helsingfors. 

Lastly,  as  to  the  '  islands  in  the  ocean,'  Thule,  Greenland, 
Halogaland,  and  Vinland,  Adam  is  really  possessed  of  better 
information  than  he  could  always  command  in  his  description 
of  the  Baltic  coasts.  For  as  yet  (about  1070)  these  regions 
belonged  to  the  metropolitan  province  of  Bremen,  and  the 
household  of  Archbishop  Adalbert  was  naturally  concerned 
with  their  temporal  and  spiritual  affairs. 

Of  England,  Ireland,  the  Orkneys,  and  the  other  members 
of  '  Albion's  Archipelago,'  the  chronicler  has  little  to  say 
beyond  the  traditions  of  Strabo  and  Soliuus.  Like  the  former, 
he  places  Hibernia  ('  the  land  of  Scots ')  to  the  north  of 
Britain ;  but  he  adds  a  few  more  modern  estimates  of 
distance2  among  these  'numerous  and  not  despicable'  isles 
opposite  Norway. 

Thule,3  the  last  of  lands,  now  called  Iceland,4  from  the  ice 
which  here  congealed  the  ocean,  was  in  the  depths  of  the 


1  Of.  Ad.  iv.  16,  17  [chs.  223, 
224,  Lappenberg].  Giesebrecht, 
Nordlandskunde,  p.  183,  assumes 
that  Gothia  and  Sweden  proper 
are  conceived  as  islands  by  Adam, 
but  the  latter  nowhere  commits 
himself  to  a  choice  between  an 
island  and  peninsula  as  far  as  Scandi- 
navia is  concerned.  Wulfstan,  in 
King  JElfred,  on  the  other  hand, 
commits  himself  to  the  peninsular 
view,  speaking  of  the  isthmus  be- 
tween the  ocean  and  the  Baltic, 
still  more  explicitly  described  in 
Saxo  Grammaticus,  Preface. 

2  E.g.  from  Trondhjem  to  the 
Orkneys  the  navigation  of  a  day 
{per  diem) ;  from  the  Orkneys  the 
same  distance  either  to  Scotland  or 
England.      Here  Adam  is  very  dif- 


ferent from  Solinus  and  Martianus 
Capella.  Britain  is  hardly  noticed 
by  Adam  except  in  reference  to  the 
wars  of  Cnut  the  Great. 

3  On  Britain,  Ireland,  etc.,  cf. 
Adam,  ii.  50,  51,  53,  55,  59  [chs. 
89,  90,  92,  94,  96,  Lappenberg] ;  on 
the  Orkneys  or  Orchad.es  (called 
by  the  barbarians  Organes,  and  dis- 
persed through  the  Ocean  like  the 
Cyclades),  Adam  iv.  34  [ch.  243, 
Lappenberg].  On  Iceland,  see  Adam, 
iv.  35  ;  on  Greenland,  iv.  10,  35,  36  ; 
on  Halogaland,  iv.  37,  and  Sch.  152  ; 
on  Vinland,  iv.  38,  and  Sch.  37 
[on  Toki  dux  Winlandensis] ;  on 
the  Frozen  Ocean  beyond  Vinland, 
iv.  39,  40  [chs.  217,  244-249,  Lap- 
penberg]. 

4  Island. 


VII.]  ICELAND,    GREENLAND,    VINLAND,    ETC.  547 

awful  and  infinite  sea  beyond  Norway,  and  thus  hidden  from 
the  view  of  other  countries.  Yet  both  Eoman  and  Barbarian 
writers,  and  especially  the  excellent  Pytheas,  had  written 
concerning  the  same  not  a  little  worthy  of  note.  No  crops 
grew  here,  and  the  supply  of  wood  was  scanty ;  like  the 
Swedes,  the  inhabitants  were  pastoral ;  they  dwelt  in  caves 
beneath  the  ground,  and  led  a  life  of  holy  and  blessed 
poverty,  envied  by  none.  Their  bishop  was  their  king,  and 
they  had  all  things  in  common. 

Still  deeper  in  the  ocean  was  Greenland,  lying  over 
against  the  mountains  of  Sweden,  or  the  Eiphaean  Hills. 
From  Norway  the  distance  was  about  the  same  as  to  Iceland, 
a  sail  of  five  or  seven  days.  It  is  clear  that  Adam  puts 
Greenland  somewhat  to  the  east  of  Iceland,  for  while  the 
latter  is  '  north  of '  Britain  the  former  is  '  opposite  to ' 
Norway.  The  name  of  the  country  is  derived  from  the 
Caerulean  Sea  that  surrounded  it;  and  from  the  same  came 
the  colour  of  its  people. 

Halagland  or  Halogaland,  on  the  contrary,  was  nearer 
to  Norway,  and  some  said  (but  this  view  of  the  matter  is  not 
endorsed  by  the  annalist)  that  it  was  the  '  last  portion '  or 
province  of  Norway  itself,  adjoining  the  land  of  the  Scrito- 
Finns,  but  inaccessible  from  its  cold  and  the  roughness  of 
its  mountains. 

Lastly,  Vinland,1  so  called  from  its  vines  of  spontaneous 
growth,  was  also  famous  for  its  self-sown  wheat.  King 
Svein  himself  had  told  the  author  how  many  navigators  had 


1  Which  Adam  is  the  first  mediaeval 
writer  to  mention  by  name,  thus 
carrying  its  literary  history  back  to 
e.  1070.  The  later  writers  of  the 
Middle  Age  (outside  Scandinavia) 
who  refer  to  Vinlaud  are  only  two  : 
(1)  Ordericus  Vitalis,  who  died  e.  '  xxvii.  p.  6 
1145  (and  whose  ecclesiastical  history    ' 


reaches  to  1142),  in  bk.  x.  of  same, 
mentions  '  Yinlandia '  in  connection 
with  Greenland,  Iceland  (Island), 
and  the  Orkneys  (Orcades)  ;  (2^ 
Albert  the  Great,  who  died  1280 
in  his  Treatise  Tie  Natura  Loco  rum 


548       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

discovered  this  region  in  the  recesses  of  the  Northern  Ocean, 
and  how  the  well-assured  opinion  of  certain  Danes,  apart 
from  all  fables,  attested  the  same.  Adam  does  not,  however, 
attempt  to  give  the  position  of  Vinland,  nor  to  estimate  its 
distance  to  other  countries  ;  but  his  ideas  are  here  affected 
by  a  confusion  similar  to  that  which  appears  in  some  of  the 
Sagas.  For  whereas  the  peculiarities  he  himself  records  in 
the  products  of  the  soil  point  to  a  more  southerly  region 
than  Saxony l  (where  the  vine  could  not  grow),  he  declares 
that  beyond  Vinland  all  things  were  full  of  unbearable  ice. 
It  was  here,  in  the  black  darkness  of  the  frozen  ocean,  that 
Harald  Hardrada  and  the  adventurous  nobles  of  Frisia  had 
run  such  risks  in  the  clays  of  Alebrand,  the  predecessor  of 
Adalbert.2  This  earliest  of  German  expeditions  to  the  Polar 
countries  had  started  from  the  mouth  of  the  Weser,3  had 
passed  the  Orkneys,  and  so  had  come  with  joyful  song4 
to  Iceland.  Thence  they  rowed  on  to  the  very  axis  of 
the  North,  where  they  were  almost  engulfed  in  the  abyss. 
The  strange  island  which  they  described  as  fortified  with 
high  rocks  like  a  town,  and  peopled  by  a  dog-like  folk  who 
lived  and  barked  in  caves  beneath  the  ground,  may  have 
been  the  east  coast  of  Greenland ;  in  any  case,  the  record 
shows  us  one  of  the  first  enterprises  of  geographical  dis- 
covery which  started,  not  from  Ireland  or  Scandinavia,  but 
from  the  North  German  shore,  where  the  League  of  Flanseatic 
traders  was  already  forming. 


1  The.  Sagas  add  the  detail,  that 
from  the  length  of  daylight  as  well 
as  from  the  nature  of  the  soil,  Vin- 
land was  further  south  than  Iceland 


was     Archbishop     of    Bremen     and 
Hamburg,  1035-1045. 
;j  Wirraha. 

4  '  Proceeded  with  C'elcusma,'  pro- 


or  Greenland.  I  perly  the  call  (KeXevafia)  of  the  row- 

2  This  properly  refers  to  the  voyage  j  ing  master  of  a  Greek  trireme  which 

of  the  Frisian  nobles,  which  perhaps  I  gave  time  to  the"  rowers, 
preceded  that  of  Harald.     Alebrand 


VII.] 


THE    BEATUS    GKOUP    OF    MAPS 


540 


§  3.— Maps l 

The  first  group  of  maps  that  concerns  us  here  is  that  which 
starts  from  the  design  of  the  Spanish  priest,  Beatus,  in  the 
latter  years  of  the  eighth  century.  The  author  was 
famous  in  the  general  Church  history  of  Spain  as  a  leading 
opponent  of  the  A doptionist 2  heresy  of  Felix  of  Urgel  and 
Elipandus  of  Toledo,  and  along  with  Etherius,  Bishop  of 
Osma,  he  maintained  the  eternal  Godhead  of  Christ  in 
opposition  to  the  view  of  those  who  taught  that  the  Son 
had  been  adopted  and  received  into  Divinity  by  the  Father. 
For  some  time  Beatus  appears  to  have  led  a  monastic  life 
under  Abbot  Fidelis,  of  St.  John  of  Pravia,  near  Oviedo  ;  his 
death  in  798  took  place  at  the  Benedictine  House  of  Vallecava 3 


1  For  all  these  maps  of  the  Central 
Mediaeval  Period,  the  best  work  of 
reference  is  undoubtedly  Konrad 
Miller's  Mappaemundi ;  die  aeltcsten 
Weltkarten;  Heft,  i.,  Die  Weltlcarte 
des  Beatus,  with  four  map  reproduc- 
tions, and  a  scheme  of  the  Beatus 
group,  1895;  Heft,  ii.,  Atlas  von  16 
Lichtdrucktafeln,  1SP5  ;  Heft,  iii., 
Die  kleincrcn  Weltkarten,  with  78 
illustrations  of  maps,  and  several 
schemes  showing  cartographical  re- 
lationship, 1895.  Miller  has  thrown 
great  light  on  the  connections, 
probably  or  certainly  existing  be- 
tween many  examples  of  mediaeval 
cartography,  which  formerly  had 
been  treated  as  quite  distinct ;  lie 
has  been  the  first  to  draw  attention 
to  several  interesting  designs ;  and 
he  has  brought  to  bear  upon  this 
study  an  amount  of  conscientious 
labour,  critical  acumen,  and  synthetic 
ingenuity,  never  before  devoted  to 
mediaeval  maps.      His  weakness   is 


to  insist  overmuch  on  conscious 
intellectual  relationship  from  small 
coincidences,  e.g.  in  maps  of  widely 
different  dates  and  origins.  San- 
tarem's  Essai  swr  Cosmogrwphie  et .  .  . 
Cartographic  (1849-1852),  and  Lele- 
wel's  Geographic  du  moyen  aye,  have 
been  in,  a  great  measure  superseded 
by  Miller's  writings,  though  they 
may  still  be  consulted  with  advan- 
tage, and  were  in  their  time  invalu- 
able. Among  more  recent  enquiries  or 
collections  of  permanent  value  may  be 
mentioned  Jomard,  Mon  uments  de  Geo- 
graphie,  1862  ;  Cortembert,  Trois  des 
plus  aneiens  mon  uments  de  Geograph  ie, 
1877  ;  Bevan  and  Phillot's  Hereford 
Map,  1877;  Philippi's  RekonstrvJction 
d.  Weltlcarte  d.  Agrippa,  1880  ;  and 
Walleser,  Die  Welt-Tafel  des  Raven- 
na ton,  1894. 

-  The  Adoptionist  controversy  be- 
gins in  782. 

3  Before  his  death,  Beatus  seems 
to  have  become  Abbot  of  this  house. 


550       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 


or  Valcavado,near  Saldanha,  in  the  Asturias.  Queen  Adosinda, 
the  wife  of  King  Silo  of  Oviedo  (774-783),  was  a  patron  and 
firm  friend  of  Beatus,  her  father-confessor  ;  by  one  tradition, 
he  was  also  teacher  of  the  famous  Alcuin,  though  another 
story 1  describes  him  as  a  deaf  mute,  hardly  capable  of  im- 
parting instruction  by  ordinary  methods.  At  any  rate,  he 
shares  a  place  with  the  celebrated  scholar  of  Charlemagne's 
Court  in  the  pillory  of  Adoptionist  polemic,2  and  especially 
in  the  rich  vocabulary  of  Elipanclus.  His  great  work,  the 
Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse,  appeared  about  the  year 
776,  and  among  the  many  sumptuous  illustrations  of  this 
volume  was  a  map  of  the  world  which  (there  is  no  good 
reason  to  doubt)  also  came  from  the  hand  of  Beatus  or  was 
drawn  under  his  supervision.  The  map  in  question  seems 
to  have  had  a  special  object.  It  was  probably  executed  to 
portray  the  spread  of  the  Christian  faith  over  the  earth,  in 
allusion  to  the  texts  which  compare  the  world  and  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  to  a  field  sown  with  seed.3  This  idea 
was  expressed  most  clearly  in  a  series  of  pictures  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles,  each  in  the  locality  where  tradition  fixed 
his  preaching  and  his  diocese.  A  note  of  the  Latin  Com- 
mentary tells  us  plainly  that  these  vignettes  were  an  essential 
feature  of  the  map  from  the  beginning;  that  they  illustrated 
the  preaching  or  sowing  of  the  Word  '  in  the  field  of  this 


1  Only  in  Eguren,  Mem.  dcsc. 

2  Asinus  silvestris,  doctor  bestia- 
lium,  foetid issimus  Beatus,  cam  is 
immunditia  foriidus,  are  among  the 
vigorous  allusions  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Toledo,  who  pictures  his  opponent 
returning  ad  thorum  scorti,  and  com- 
pares him  to  a  madman,  drank  with 
wine,  thinking  himself  a  prophet, 
appointing  an  abbot  for  the  animals 
of  the  district  of  Liebana,  and  fore- 
telling the   immediate    end    of    the 


world.  One  Sunday  he  terrified  his 
hearers  so  that  all  of  them  fasted  till 
the  ninth  hour,  expecting  the  con- 
summation of  the  ages  every  moment ; 
a  worldling,  named  Hordonius,  at  last 
suggested  that  it  was  as  well  to  meet 
death  with  a  full  meal.  Cf.  Letters 
of  Elipandus  in  Florez,  Espaha 
Saijrada,  v.  509,  537,  543-557,  etc., 
edition  of  1763  ;  K.  Miller,  Weltkarte 
des  Beatus,  pp.  4,  5. 

3  Cf.  Matthew  xiii.  1-9,18-23,  24-32, 


-r«"f* —    ;  '^^fljtfiffS*t&!2._  "'       "  '*■*'  ' 


THE   (BEATUS)  MAP   OF   'ST.    SEVER'   OF  C.    A.D.    1030. 


[To  face  p.  550. 


VII.]  BEATUS'    '  DIVISIO    APOSTOLOKDM  551 

world ' ;  and,  by  implication,  that  the  apostolic  portraits  were 
placed  in  certain  definite  cities  or  regions,  to  which  their 
work  had  special  reference.1  Further,  this  Distribution  (or 
Divisio  Apostolorum)  was  conceived  as  follows  : — To  Peter 
was  given  Rome;  to  Andrew,  Greece  or  Achaia ;  to  Thomas, 
India ;  to  James,  Spain ;  to  John,  Asia ;  to  Matthew,  Mace- 
donia :  to  Philip,  Gaul ;  to  Bartholomew,  Lycaonia ;  to  Simon 
Zelotes,  Egypt ;  to  Matthias,  Judaea  ;  to  James,  the  brother 
of  the  Lord,  Jerusalem  was  assigned  ;  while  for  Paul  there 
was  no  such  definite  location,  as  his  mission  was  to  all  the 
world.  His  portrait,  however,  appeared  upon  the  map  along 
with  that  of  St.  Peter,  at  Koine,  as  a  co-founder  of  the 
Apostolic  See.  The  Commentary  of  Beatus  (mainly  based 
upon  St.  Isidore  of  Seville)  describes  all  this  in  writing ;  but 
the  pictures  themselves  have  only  survived  in  one  of  the 
ten  existing  copies  of  the  map,  that  of  Osma  (1203  a.d.),  and 
of  course  the  so-called  portraits  are  all  of  one  type,  and  that 
an  intensely  sacerdotal  one. 

The  ten  copies  of  the  Beatus  map  are  of  widely  different 
date  from  the  tenth  to  the  thirteenth  century ;  some,  like  that 
of  Turin,  have  been  known  for  a  considerable  time ;  most 
have  been  brought  to  light  within  recent  times ;  all  of  them 
till  lately  have  been  treated  as  distinct  and  isolated  speci- 
mens of  Dark-Age  cartography.  They  are,  however,  certainly 
connected;  they  all  occur  in  manuscripts  of  the  same  work, 
the  Apocalypse  Commentary ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  they 
are  all  derivable  from  the  common  original,  the  design  of  the 


1  El  hiifahibus  haec  scminis  grana 
per  agru m  h  ujus  mundi  metent.  Quod 
subjecta  formula  pichcrarum  demon- 
strat.  Apostolic  '  titles '  also  occur  in 
e.g.  Lambert  of  St.  Omer.  the  Ebstorf 
and  Hereford  maps,  the  Byzantine 
Oxford  of  1110.  Matthew  Paris,  and 


the  same  completeness.  St.  James 
in  Spain,  St.  Peter  in  Rome.  St. 
Thomas  in  India,  are  almost  the 
only  cases.  Osma  leaves  out  (in  its 
pictures,  though  not  in  its  text) 
both  Thaddeus  and  Judas  the  brother 
of  James,  making  up  the  full  number 


a  plan  at  Velletri,  but  nowhere  with    '    with  Paul  and  Matthias, 


552       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

priest  Beatus,  in  or  near  the  year  776.  The  first  in  order  of 
date  is  that  of  970,  traditionally  the  work  of  a  copyist  named 
Obeco,  and  known  in  recent  times  as  the  '  Ashbnrnham ' 
map,  from  its  last  possessor.  But  this,  although  the  earliest 
example,  is  of  small  value  ;  it  omits  nearly  all  the  rivers,  cities, 
and  hamlets  given  on  other  copies,  and  turns  the  oval  form,1 
which  was  almost  certainly  that  of  the  original,  into  a 
right-angled  one.  Next  conies  the  '  St.  Sever '  (now  at 
Paris),  a  work  executed  at  the  above-named  Aquitanian 
convent  by  the  order  of  Gregory  de  Muntaner,  Abbot  from 
1028  to  1072 ;  this  is  the  most  valuable,  the  most  carefully 
executed,  and  the  richest  in  content  of  all  the  transcripts.2 
It  is  probably  the  nearest  to  the  original  type,  and  is 
therefore  primary  in  any  attempted  reconstruction  of  that 
type.  The  copies  which  follow,  known  as  the  '  Madrid,'  of 
1047,  and  the  '  Valladolid,'  of  1035,  seem  to  be,  in  great 
measure,  derivatives  of  the  work  of  970 ;  they  are  un- 
important, very  debased,  and  further  removed  from  the 
original  of  776  than  any  other,  except  their  immediate 
ancestor.  The  'Gerona'  of  about  1100,  and  the  'London' 
of  1109,  like  the  'Paris'  of  1150,  do  not  call  for  special 
remark;3  but  our  next  copy,  the  'Turin'  of  the  twelfth  (?) 
century,  which  is  more  closely  related  to  the  Gerona  map 
than  any  other,  is  perhaps  the  best-known  example  among 
maps  of  a  strictly  Dark-Age  character.  It  is  not  so  ancient 
or  so  important  as  once  supposed ;  but  it  has  been  before  the 
modern  world  for  a  century  and  a  half,  far  longer  than  any 


1  '  Ashbui'iiham '  alone  is  quite 
square  ;  '  Paris  'of  1150  and  '  Turin  ' 
alone  quite  circular. 

2  The  name  of  the  artist  (or  of  one 
among  a  group  of  executants  respon- 
sible for  the  map)  may  be  conveyed 
in  an  entry  on  fol.  6  of  the  Paris 
MS.,  Bib.  Nat.,  Lat.  8878  (contain- 


ing 'St.  Sever'),  viz.  Stephanus  Garcia 
Placidus.  The  measurements  of  this 
codex  are  370  millimetres  by  290. 

3  Except  that  '  Gerona's '  pictirre  of 
Jonah  seized  by  a  cuttle-fish  off  the 
Spanish  coast  probably  represents  an 
original  feature. 


^Jf«W._L      .        T'l      i-- 


ul'  0.    A.D.    1150. 


VII. J  THE    TEN    COPIES    OF    BEATUS'    MAPS  553 

other  '  Beatus,'  and  it  has  become  almost  classic.  Its 
remarkable  peculiarities  have  naturally  made  it  a  favourite 
subject  for  reproduction.  For  though  the  celebrated  wind- 
blowers,  so  prominent  here,  are  also  to  be  found  in  other 
mediaeval  mcvppe-mondes,1  their  execution  on  the  Turin 
example  is-  far  more  vigorous  and  detailed,2  and  supplies 
us  with  the  most  striking  artistic  feature  in  Beatus 
Geography. 

Last  in  point  of  date,  though  not  of  importance,  are  the 
'Osma'  copy  of  120o  and  the  'Paris'  of  1250.  The 
latter,  indeed,  presents  a  frightful  confusion  of  lands  and 
seas,  placing  Palestine  in  the  interior  of  Africa  and 
Southern  Italy  next  to  Jerusalem  ;  but  it  contains,  neverthe- 
less, some  valuable  reminiscences  of  original  matter  not  so 
prominent  elsewhere.  The  map  of  Osma  has  much  in 
common  with  St.  Sever,  especially  in  its  general  form, 
and,  after  the  Aquitanian  copy,  it  is  certainly  our  best 
example  of  this  school  or  group  of  designs.  In  some  points 
it  must  indeed  take  the  first  place,  as  more  directly  repre- 
senting the  prototype.  Thus  in  its  pictures  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles  it  is  unique,  and  explains  to  us  the  very  fons  ct 
origo  of  the  Beatus  scheme:  like  the  'Paris'  of  1250,  it 
represents  the  Skiapodes,  or  Shadow-footed  men,  of  the 
Southern  Continent,  an  important  feature  (in  all  proba- 
bility)  of  the  primitive   work ;    while   none   of    the    Beatus 

]  As  iu  the  'Paris'  of  c.  1250,  the  :  the  picture  was  not  a  feature  of  the 

latest  of  the  Beatus  copies  ;  cf.   the  work   of  776  ;    the  simpler   form   of 

angels  in  Henry  of  Mainz.  '  the  wind-blowers  in  the  thirteenth- 

-  Where  each  wind-spirit  is  seated  j  century  Paris  has  greater  claims  in 

on  a  sack  or  iEolus-bag,  out  of  which  :  this    respect.      The    idea    must    be 

he  is  squeezing  a  lively  'blast  of  air.'  recognised  as  occurring  in  both  the 

This  has  become  a  favourite  illustra-  I  'Osma'   and    'Valcavado'    families, 

tion    of   mediaeval    thought.       It   is  i  which    greatly    strengthens    its    pre- 

certain,  however,  that  in  this  shape  i  tensions  to  originality. 


554       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION 


[Ch. 


copies  gives  so  good  a  delineation  of  the  Lighthouse-Towers 
at  Alexandria  and  Brigantia.1 

These  ten  copies  of  the  map  of  776  have  been  suggestively 
classed  in  two  main  families,2  those  of  Osma  and  of  Val- 
cavado.  To  the  former 3  belong  the  examples  of  1080  4  (St. 
Sever),  of  1203  (Osma),  and  of  1250  4  (Paris);  to  the  latter, 
those  of  970  (Ashburnham),  1035  (Valladolid),  1047.(Madrid), 
and  1109  (London),  with  the  Gerona  of  the  closing  eleventh 
or  early  twelfth  century,  the  Turin  of  about  the  same  date, 
and  the  Paris  of  11  SO.4  The  parting  of  these  families 
probably  took  place  in  the  ninth  century,  and  each  appears 
to  have  been  immediately  derived  from  certain  lost  inter- 
mediates of  the  tenth  century,  such  as  the  two  executed  in 
whole  or  part5  by  Emeterius  of  Valcavado  between  968 
and  978, 

There  is  no  graduation  on  any  of  these  copies,  although 
certain  lines  '  showing  through '  from  the  ruling  and 
writing  on  the  other  side  of  the  page  have  sometimes  been 
mistaken  for  horizontal  and  vertical  indications.  In  all  the 
designs,  save  one,  the  East  is  at  the  top ;  the  Paris  of 
1250,  which  substitutes  the  South  (probably  through  Arabic 


1  Here  probably  original  Beatus 
matter  is  reproduced.  Osma  is  especi- 
ally valuable  in  its  representation  of 
the  Levant  or  Eastern  Mediterranean, 
of  the  Nile,  of  Mount  Taurus,  and  of 
Taprobane.  Among  other  maps  of 
the  Central  mediaeval  period  the 
'  Cottoniana '  offers  the  greatest  like- 
ness to  Osma. 

2  By  Professor  Konrad  Miller, 
Weltkarte  cles  Beatus,  especially  pp. 
21-7.  Miller  also  subdivides  the  Osma 
family  into  stem  (A),  including  'St. 
Sever '  and  the  '  Paris  of  c.  1250  ' 
or  'Paris  II.';  and  stem  (B),  in- 
cluding the  '  Osma  '  of  1203  ;  while 
the     Valcavado     family     is     parted 


into  stem  (C),  comprising  the 
'  Ashburnham '  of  970,  the  '  Valla- 
dolid '  of  1035,  the  '  Madrid '  of  1047, 
the  '  London '  of  1109  ;  and  stem  (D), 
including  the  'Gerona,'  'Turin,'  and 
twelfth  -  century  '  Paris, '  otherwise 
'Paris  III.' 

3  Much  the  more  important ; — (1) 
as  ampler,  (2)  better  scientifically,  (3) 
nearer  to  the  original  type  ;  both  the 
St.  Sever  and  Osma  copies  belong  to 
this  branch. 

4  These  dates  are  approximate. 

5  Some  of  these  intermediate  copies 
may  yet  be  recovered  in  the  recesses 
of  Spanish  convents  or  elsewhere. 


THE    'LONDON   BEATUS'   (SO-CALLED   'SPAMSII-AHABIC')  MAP  OF  A.l).    11 


VII.]  COMMON    FEATURES    IN    BEATUS    MAPS  555 

influence),  makes  this  substitution  with  such  inconsistency, 
in  regard  to  other  parts  of  the  map,  that  it  is  clear  the 
copyist  is  here  departing  from  his  original.  Paradise  is 
placed  in  the  extreme  East,  not  on  an  isle  (as  in  many  other 
designs),  but  on  the  mainland,1  encircled  by  unscalable 
mountains,  and  accompanied  by  pictures  either  of  Adam  and 
Eve  or  of  the  Four  Sacred  Rivers.2 

The  division  of  the  Continents  is  usually  the  same  as 
that  of  the  so-called  T"0  niaps,  Asia  occupying  the  upper 
half,  while  in  the  lower  part  Europe  has  the  left-hand 
quarter,  Africa  the  right-hand.  The  western  border  of 
Asia  is  formed  by  a  series  of  rivers  and  narrow  seas,  from  the 
Don 3  to  the  Nile,  while  to  the  south  of  Africa,  separated  by 
a  strip  of  ocean,  is4  the  Southern,  Australian,  or  Antipodean 
Continent  of  ancient  theory.1  According  to  this  view,  Africa 
did  not  reach  to  the  Equator,  which  was  covered  by  the 
Ocean  zone  above  noticed ;  this  zone  was  of  unbearable  heat; 
and  beyond  it  again  was  a  land  of  non-human  monsters. 
Of  the  Antipodes,  in  the  strict  sense,  implying  the  earth's 
rotundity,  Beatus x  gives  no  sign  ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  he 
utters  no  condemnation  of  a  theory  permitted,  though  not 
endorsed,  by  the  authority  of  St.  Augustine. 

In  the  Beatus  designs  the  ocean  is  usually  ornamented 
with  pictures  of  row-boats  and  fishes,  which  appear  to 
follow  regular  courses,  as  if  to  indicate  the  direction  of 
currents,  or  the  periodical  wanderings5  of  tunny  or  herring 
shoals.  Among  the  various  divisions  of  ocean  it  is  notice- 
able that  the  Red  Sea  is  extended  by  nearly  all  the  copyists, 


1  Following  Isidore  of  Seville. 

-  Pison,  Gihon,  Hiddekel,  Euph- 
rates. 

:!  Tanais. 

4  On  all  but  one  of  our  ten  copies, 
and   that   the   latest  and  most  cor- 


rupted (Paris  of  1250).  Even  this 
gives  the  'Skiapod'  in  a  corner,  anil 
hereby  implies  the  southern  land. 

5  So,  following  Santarem,  we  may 
perhaps  guess  from  St.  Sever  and  the 
B,  Mus.  Map  of  1109. 


550       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Cfl. 

not  only  along  the  whole  southern  coast  of  Asia,1  but  along 
that  of  Africa  as  well.  The  latter,  of  course,  in  all  the 
earlier  mediaeval  maps,  has  its  length  from  East  to  "West,  its 
breadth  from  North  to  South. 

The  chief  towns  of  the  Habitable  "World  were  probably 
marked  on  the  original  of  776  by  vignettes  such  as  those  of 
the  Peutinger  Table ;  these  have  survived  on  the  Osma 
of  1203  and  the  Paris  of  1250  ;  and  are  developed  with 
considerable  sumptuousness  and  artistic  beauty  in  the 
Paris  of  1150.  Among  these  city-pictures  the  most 
noticeable  are  those  of  Eome,  Antioch,  Jerusalem,  and 
Constantinople,  with  the  beacons  or  lighthouses  of  Brigantia 
and  Alexandria. 

There  is  not  much  of  purely  fabulous  matter  in  the 
Beatus  designs  ;  the  two  most  prominent  of  such  indications 
are  the  Phoenix  of  Arabia  and  the  '  Skiapodes '  of  the 
Australian  Continent.2  Jerusalem  is  never  made  the  centre 
of  the  earth,3  although  the  latest  of  our  copies,  the  Paris 
of  1250,  shows  a  tendency  in  this  direction.  It  is  in  the 
'  Sallust '  maps  of  the  twelfth  century  and  in  the  T"0 
design  of  1110  that  this  point  is  first  expressed  with  perfect 
clearness  in  cartography  ;  but  of  course  it  appears  in  written 
descriptions  or  allusions  of  a  far  earlier  date,  and  among 
these  we  may  instance  that  of  the  pilgrim  Arculf,  in  about 
690.4 

Beatus  himself,  no  doubt,  considered  his  map  as  primarily 

1  As    so    often    iu    classical    geo-    i    Spain,    the   native    country    of    the 
graphy.  designer. 


-  Both  these  features  were  probably 
on  the  original  Beatus  of  776,  like 
Mount  Sinai,  and  Jonah  and  the  fish 
(surviving  in  the  Gerona  copy).  It 
is  curious  that  no  reference  is  made 
to  the  Arlc,  the  races  of  Gog-Maffoff, 


a  This  conception  does  not  acquire 
definiteness  and  fixity  till  the  Cru- 
sading Period.  One  of  its  very 
earliest  instances  is  the  Byzantine- 
Oxford  T-O  map  of  1110. 

4  Cf.  Dawn  of  Modern  Geography. 


the  Tower  of  Babel,  or  the  rivers  of  '    i.  pp.  133,  338-9. 


VII.] 


CHIEF    SOURCES    OF    BEATUS    GEOGRAPHY 


557 


illustrative1  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,-  and  of  the 
spread  of  the  Catholic  Faith :  but  in  addition  to  the 
Scriptures,  he  seems  to  have  used  two  main  authorities. 
One  of  these  was  St.  Isidore  of  Seville ;  the  other  was  a 
Eoman  province-map,3  bearing  some  resemblance  to  the 
Peutinger  Table.  From  the  great  Spanish  theologian  come 
almost  verbatim  most  of  the  longer  inscriptions,  or  legenda ; 
but  we  must  not  forget  that  Isidore  himself  usually 
derived  the  matter  of  his  geographical  dissertations  from 
the  cosmographies  of  the  later  Roman  period.  On  the 
other  hand,  no  earlier  source  is  known  of  the  '  Apostolic  ' 
pictures  of  Beatus,  as  far  as  embodiment  on  a  mappe-monde 
is  concerned ;  and  this  detail  may  well  be  a  refinement 
supplied  by  the  priest  of  Valcavado  himself;  but  of  course 
the  apostolic  locations  or  dioceses  are  found  in  very  early 
Christian  tradition,  and  most  of  them  are  probably  true 
in  fact.  As  to  the  Eoman  province-map,  it  is  perhaps 
from  this  that  Beatus  and  his  copyists  derived  most  of 
their  'profane'  geography.4  The  Caspian  Sea,  the 
Alexandrian  Pharos,  the  Nile  inscription,  and  the  desert 
where  the  Children  of  Israel  wandered  forty  years,  as 
we  have  them  in  Beatus  cartography,5  are  closely  parallel 
to  the  representations  of  the  Peutinger  Table ;  and  the 
relationship  between  these  works  is  the  key  to  all  satisfac- 
tory study  of  the  '  Spanish  designs.'  The  connection  is  shown 
in  many  other  details,  as  in  the  names  of  the  peoples,  cities, 
hills,  and  rivers  of    various    countries,   and    in    the    Indian, 


1  From  the  manuscripts  it  is  clear 
that  the  Map  was  merely  one  orna- 
ment of  a  splendid  picture  book,  in 
which  every  Apocalyptic  incident 
and  monstrosity  was  duly  figured. 

2  Yet  tin.'  Bihlical  loans  are  very 
extensive,  e.g.  on  Osina  some  thirty- 
seven  names,  exclusive  of  the  Apostles. 


"'  Apparently  Beatus  tries  to  mark 
two  of  the  Metropolitan  towns  in  each 
province.  This  is  especially  shown  in 
the  Paris  of  1150. 

4  Though  very  few,  if  any,  of  their 
longer  inscriptions  or  legends. 

5  Especially  in  St.  Sever. 


558       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  [Ch. 

Syrian,  and  African  legends  ;  while  in  Gaul  not  only  are 
the  same,  provinces  named  and  the  same  divisions  made, 
but  the  more  striking  omissions  of  the  Table  occur  also 
in  St.  Sever.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  names 
of  towns  in  the  Beatus  maps,  more  than  ninety  agree  with 
'  Peutinger,' 1  and  among  these  ninety  parallels  are  to  be 
found  all  except  two  of  the  important  places  marked  by 
pictures  ; 2  on  the  other  hand,  the  great  vignettes  at  Borne, 
Constantinople,  and  Antioch  (as  we  have  them  in  the  Table), 
if  existing  in  the  work  or  works  used  by  Beatus,  have 
undergone  transformation  and  reduction  to  a  much  humbler 
level.  Further  comparisons  may  be  drawn  from  the  similar 
arrangement  of  towns  in  more  than  one  region,  and 
especially  in  Greece  or  Achaia.  The  Francia  of  Beatus, 
lying  wholly  to  the  east  of  the  Rhine,  is  evidently  copied 
from  a  map  or  description  of  a  date  far  earlier  than  the 
eighth  century  ;  in  certain  instances,  where  St.  Sever 
(for  instance)  gives  names  to  places3  which  are  depicted,  but 
not  titled,  in  Peutinger,  the  relationship  of  the  Beatus  group 
with  an  old  imperial  map  is  still  more  pointedly  suggested.4 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Beatus  designs  have  nothing 
similar  to  the  Roman  Itineraries,  properly  so  called,  or  to 
the  station-,  distance-,  and  road-markings  of  the  Table.    Nor, 


1  Seven  or  eight  later  than  Peu- 
tinger Table  ;  seven  Biblical  ;  nine 
ancient  names  not  in  the  Peutinger 
Table ;  fourteen  old  Gallic  names 
represented  by  more  modern  forms 
on  our  copy  of  the  Peutinger  Table  ; — 
make  up  the  rest.  Beatus'  use  of 
the  Peutinger  Table  (or  similar  old 
Roman  map)  was  very  eclectic  any- 
how. The  names  peculiar  to  the  Paris 
of  c.  1250  are  mostly  in  the  Peutinger 
Table  or  in  Julius  Honorius. 

-  Usually  little  houses. 

3  E.ij.     Catana,     Cihale;     Sardes, 


Cartusium  (?). 

4  Besides  the  position  of  '  Francia,' 
we  may  note  that  the  Bactriaus  in 
India,  three  rivers  in  the  Balkan  Pen- 
insula, four  in  Italy,  one  in  Africa, 'and 
the  streams  of  the  Caspian  basin,  are 
identical  in  Beatus  and  the  Peutinger 
Table.  Among  mountains,  the  Atlas 
and  Cyrenaean  ranges,  and  Mount 
Emodus  in  India,  may  also  be  com- 
pared. The  arrangement  of  names  in 
various  provinces,  e.g.  Achaia,  is  like- 
wise closely  similar.  On  the  Beatus 
maps  cf.  Appendix,  pp.  591-605. 


VII  1  THE    COTTON    MAP  559 

of  course,  can  the  latter' s  six  hundred  references  to  pagan 
temples  and  worship  be  found  in  these  plans  of  the  tenth 
and  subsequent  centuries.  But,  in  spite  of  all  differences, 
we  appear  to  have,  in  the  various  works  derived  from  the 
Spanish  priest  of  Liebana  and  Vallecava,  a  Dark-Age 
reflection  of  one  or  more  cartographical  works  of  the  Old 
Empire,  free  from  all  additions  of  the  Crusading  period, 
and  of  inestimable  value  as  a  link  between  the  ancient 
and  the  mediaeval  worlds. 

The  '  Cotton  '  or  '  Anglo-Saxon  '  Map  x  now  in  the  British 
Museum,  though  of  small  size,  is  among  the  most  interesting 
of  all  mediaeval  world-pictures,  and  gives  us  a  design  far 
above  the  average.  It  portrays,  with  comparative  fulness  and 
accuracy,  various  places,  regions,  and  natural  features  else- 
where omitted — or  misunderstood — until  a  much  later  date ; 
and  its  delineation  of  coast  (and  other)  outlines  forms  a 
striking  contrast  with  such  works  as  the  Ashburnham  or 
Valcavado  of  970.  In  fact,  there  is  hardly  any  map  of  the 
Middle  Age,  before  the  appearance  of  the  Portolani,  which 
can  be  compared,  in  the  general  contour  of  the  great  land- 
masses,  with  the  '  Cottoniana.' 2  In  its  presentation  of  the 
world  as  a  whole,  this  design  adopts  a  roughly  square  form, 
and  in  this  it  recalls  some  of  the  most  debased  examples  of 
the  Beatus  group.  But  in  the  execution  of  this  right-angled 
scheme  there  is  all  the  difference  between  the  narrow 
ignorance  of  an  uncompromising  symmetry,  and  a  certain 
respectable,  if  not  highly  developed,  knowledge  and  scientific 
insight. 


1  -  The  last  known  monument  of 
the  Roman  geographical  school,' 
Lelewel  strangely  calls  it,  Geo- 
graphic, pp.  10-13.  It  measures  21.2 
by  17.6  centimetres. 


2  Though  of  course  later  maps 
of  separate  countries  {e.g.  Matthew 
Paris'  '  England ')  are  in  some  in- 
stances much  superior. 


560       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch. 

The  'Cottoniana'  does  not  appear  to  belong  to  any  one 
of  the  ascertainable  families  of  mediaeval  maps.  It  is  far 
removed  from  all  the  members  of  the  Beatus  group ;  it  is 
equally  far  removed  from  the  school  to  which  '  Henry  of 
Mainz,'  the  '  Psalter,'  the  '  Hereford,'  and  the  '  Ebstorf '  plans 
appear  to  belong.  Nor  has  it  any  relation  with  the  various 
types  of  zone-  (or  climate-map)  which  we  know  under  the 
names  of  '  Macrobius,'  '  Sallust,'  or  T"0  sketches.  A  certain 
likeness,  especially  in  the  British  Isles,  may,  indeed,  be  de- 
scried between  the  '  Cottoniana '  and  the  '  Matthew  Paris  ' 
maps  of  the  thirteenth  century  ;  but  this  is  not  the  detailed 
and  conscious  resemblance  of  works  really  in  touch  with  one 
another,  as  model  and  copy ;  it  is  rather  the  unstudied  likeness 
of  good  work  in  the  same  subject  at  widely  different  periods. 
Matthew  Paris,  moreover,  has  all  the  advantages  of  his  time. 
He  lived  in  one  of  the  most  flourishing  and  civilised  of 
mediaeval  epochs,  whereas  the  Cotton  map  comes  upon  us 
as  a  surprise  from  one  of  the  gloomiest  Dark  Ages  of 
the  Latin  world. 

Some1  have  pushed  back  the  date  of  this  example  to  the 
ninth  century  and  the  time  of  King  zElfred  ;  it  is  more  prob- 
ably of  about  a  century  later,  the  time  of  Archbishop  Sigeric 
of  Canterbury  (992-994).  The  map  itself  occurs  in  a  copy  of 
Priscian's  Perierjesis,  a  fifth-century  manual  of  geography, 
based  upon  an  earlier  treatise  ;'2  but  it  stands  in  no  special  or 
obvious  relationship  to  the  work  it  professedly  illustrates. 
It  is,  indeed,  more  closely  linked  with  Orosius  ;  it  has  also 
certain  obligations  to  Pomponius  Mela,  St.  Isidore  of 
Seville,  and  the  topographical  writings  of  St.  Jerome ; 
finally,  it  bears  some  indications  of  a  much  later  time,  the 

1  E.g.      Lelewel     and      Wuttke  ;   |   after  the  Periegesis  compiled  by  him 
Santarem  puts  it  as  late  as  1020.  perhaps  about  A.i>.  100.    On  the' Cot  - 

-  Of  Diouysius,  surnamed  Periegctcs   i    toniana,' see  Appendix,  pp.  608-12. 


VII. J  THE    COTTON    MAP  561 

age  of  the  discoveries  and  migrations  of  the  Northmen  in 
the  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  centuries.  The  correspondences 
of  various  entries  and  delineations  in  the  'Cottoniana'  with 
certain  names  and  descriptions  in  Adam  of  Bremen  1  afford 
at  least  a  possibility  that  the  former  sometimes  drew  from 
the  same  originals  as  the  great  northern  annalist,  while  some 
of  the  names  in  the  British  Isles,  in  Gaul,  and  in  the  Far 
East  and  North-East,  support  the  tenth-century  date,  which 
most  scholars  are  now  inclined  to  accept.  The  possibility 
of  so  good 2  a  work  emanating  from  so  dark  a  time,  and  so 
uncultured  a  society,  has  been  disputed  ;  but  it  is  impossible 
to  press  this  sentimental  objection  in  the  face  of  so  much 
positive  evidence  to  the  contrary  ;  and  from  other  designs,3 
equally  belonging  to  this  Dark-Age  period,  we  see  that  even 
then  it  was  possible  to  draught  a  respectable  sketch  of  a 
limited  region.  The  map  of  St.  Sever,  a  work  of  even 
greater  elaboration,  though  of  less  scientific  character,  was 
produced  before  the  dawn  of  the  Crusading  or  Middle-Age 
Eenaissance  ;  while  the  monstrosities  of  the  Hereford  and 
Ebstorf  maps  disgraced  the  last  and  most  splendid  period 
of  the  same  ; — for  the  goodness  of  a  map  is  by  no  means 
an  absolute  matter  of  date  ;  even  in  the  tenth  century  some- 
thing belongs  to  the  copyist  himself  and  his  immediate 
original. 

The  comparative  excellence  of  the  'Cottoniana'  is  perhaps 
due  to  its  being  the  production  of  an  Irish  scholar-monk 
living  in  the  household  of  the  learned  and  travelled  Arch- 


1  Fl.  1070. 

2  One  of  the  most  startling  excel- 
lencies of  the  Cotton  is  its  insertion 
of  the  Slav  name  of  the  Dniepr, 
Naper  fluv. 

3  E.g.  even  the  Albi  map  of 
c.  730,  in  which  some  of  the  Mediter-   I 

2  >- 


ranean  coasts  are  at  any  rate  better 
than  in  most  Arab  maps.  The 
Mosaic  map  of  Madaba,  c.  550,  of 
course  belongs  to  a  highly  civilised 
period  and  country,  Syria  under 
Justinian. 


562       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh; 

bishop  Sigeric,  with  whose  Itinerary 1  the  present  design  has 
several  curious  resemblances.  In  the  British  Isles  of  the 
pre-Norman  period,  there  is  no  school  of  learning,  art,  or 
science  comparable  to  that  which  sprang  from  the  Irish 
Church  of  Patrick,  Colomba,  and  Aidan  ;  and  the  insertion 
of  the  name  of  Armagh,  so  rarely  found  in  mediaeval  maps, 
strengthens  the  view  that  here  we  have  the  handiwork  of  a 
student  who  was  trained  in  Irish  schools,  or  derived  his 
knowledge  from  men  so  trained. 

The  chief  authority  is  the  geographical  chapter  of  Paulus 
Orosius,2  but  a  certain  amount  of  antique  material  also 
reappears,  which  is  different  from  anything  now  to  be  found 
in  the  Orosian  writings.  The  scribe  or  draughtsman  tells 
us  that  he  found,  in  the  manuscript  of  Priscian's  Periegcsis 
used  by  him,  a  map  which  he  supposed  to  have  been  drawn 
by  Priscian  himself ; 3  this  map,  however,  may  well  have  been 
a  copy  of  the  lost  Orosian  schema  terrae ;  and  in  any  case 
it  was  obviously  the  immediate  original  of  the  '  Cottoniana.' 
Thus  the  latter  design,  unique  among  its  contemporaries, 
and  therefore  mysterious  in  its  superiorit}^,  is  brought 
into  a  possible  relation  with  an  earlier  school  of  no  con- 
temptible attainment  ;  and,  here  as  elsewhere,  we  may  find 
a  process  of  evolution,  of  inter-connection,  and  of  historical 
development,  bringing  together  the  most  surprising  and 
distant  parallels,  and  throwing  light  upon  a  field  where,  as 
in  natural  science,  the  mistaken  ideas  of  separate  and 
unconnected  existence  had  long  prevailed. 

A  Eoman  province-map  may  have  been  the  source  of  the 

1  From     Rome     to     the     English    j    and  all  its  names  of  countries,  with 


Channel.  See  Appendix,  pp.  612-4. 
%  Out  of  one  hundred  and  forty- 
six  legends,  seventy-five  occur  in 
Orosius.  These  seventy-five  contain 
the  textual  basis  of  the  whole  map, 


very  few  exceptions. 

3  If  the  designer's  story  be  accepted. 
On  Orosius,  cf.  Dawn  of  Modem  Geo- 
graphy, i.  pp.  353-355. 


VII.]  MAP    OF    HENRY    OF    MAINZ  5 Go 

divisions  so  clearly  marked  in  Asia  Minor,  in  Central  and 
South-Eastern  Europe,  and  in  North  Africa  ;  while  the 
Biblical  loans  of  the  Cotton  Scheme  may  be  traced  not  only 
in  many  names  but  in  certain  aspects  of  the  general  plan. 
Indeed,  it  is  obvious  that  here  the  design  was  not  merely 
indebted  to  the  Scriptures  for  details  such  as  almost  all 
mediaeval  maps  exhibit,  but  was  to  a  large  extent  devised 
for  a  special  Biblical  lesson.  For  just  as  the  mappe-monde 
of  Beatus  had  for  its  radical  purpose1  the  delineation  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles,  their  dioceses,  and  their  distribution  over 
the  Habitable  World  as  '  Sowers  of  the  Word,'  so  the 
1  Cottoniana,'  perhaps  based  on  a  lost  design  of  Paulus 
Orosius,  had  for  one  of  its  main  objects  a  picture  of  the 
settlement  of  the  Twelve  Tribes  of  Israel.2 

The  map  of  Henry  of  Mainz  (c.  a.d.  1110)  apparently 
belongs  to  a  family  of  cartographical  works  which  may  be 
compared  with  the  more  closely-knit  members  of  the  Beatus 
genealogy.  In  the  present  group  are  also  included  the  tiny 
Psalter  map  (of  about  1230),  and  the  Hereford  and 
Ebstorf  examples  from  the  later  thirteenth  century — huge 
wall  pictures  which  represented,  in  size  though  not  in  execu- 
tion, the  possible  eleventh-century  original  more  closely  than 
their  elder  but  smaller  brethren  or  cousins.  Lastly,  the 
so-called  'Jerome'  maps,  of  about  1150,  may  be  collaterally 
referred  to  the  same  family,  through  the  medium  of  the 
Mainz  design. 

The  last-named  is  to  be  found  in  the  Imago  Munch  of  a 
certain  Henry,  probably  the  same  person  as  a  Canon  Henry 
(Heinrich)  who  in  1111  appeared 3  before  the  Episcopal  Court 


1  In  part  at  least. 

2  The  colouring  of 'the  '  Cottoniana' 
is  grey  for  most  seas  ;  red  for  the 
Persian  ami  Arabian  Gulfs,  the  Nile 


Valley,    and    the    Lakes  of    .Africa 
bright  green  for  all  mountains, 
3  As  a  witness, 


564      GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

of  Mainz  :l  possibly  he  is  the  same  as  the  Archbishop  Heniy, 
who  ruled  this  church  between  1142  and  1152.2  In  any 
case,  the  map  accompanies  a  work  which  was  written  about 
1110,  and  was  dedicated  to  the  famous  and  unfortunate 
Matilda,  wife  of  the  Emperor  Henry  V.,  daughter  of 
Henry  I.  of  England,  and  mother  of  Henry  II.  This 
work,  the  Imago  Mundi  de  disjjositione  orbis,  a  compendious 
description  of  the  world,  containing  also  a  short  chronicle 
of  universal  history,3  was  copied  and  interpolated,  but  not 
originally  composed,  by  Henry  of  Mainz  ;  it  was  really  the 
work  of  a  contemporary,  Honorius  of  Autun.  The  map, 
however,  is  apparently  the  addition  of  the  scribe  Henry, 
and  is  not  derived  from  Honorius,  although  it  is  based  on 
another  and  older  design. 

It  is  oval  in  form,  of  small  size,4  and  contains  two 
hundred  and  twenty-nine  legends  or  inscriptions,  together 
with  a  large  number  of  unnamed  cities,  mountains,  and 
rivers,  whose  titles  can  for  the  most  part  be  ascertained 
with  the  aid  of  its  younger  relatives,  the  Ebstorf,  Psalter, 
Hereford,  and  Jerome  (?)  plans.  Although  the  present  world- 
scheme  is  apparently  intended  to  illustrate  the  Imago 
copied  by  Henry,  the  connection  between  the  two  is  but 
slender  ;  for  (as  in  the  case  of  the  '  Cottoniana '  and  the  text 
of  Priscian  it  accompanies)  the  peculiarities  of  the  chart 
are  often  not  in  the  manuscript,  nor  are  those  of  the  manu- 


1  In  1121  this  Canon  Heinrich 
appears  as  Priest  of  St.  Victor  ;  in 
1133  and  onwards  as  a  Priest  attached 
to  the  Cathedral  (of  Mainz).  He  is 
mentioned  in  various  charters. 

2  This  prelate  was  deposed  on  the 
charge   of  opposing   the   election   of 


imagine  mundi ;  (2)  De  temporibus 
matthesis ;  (5)  De  aetatibus  mundi 
chronicon ;  (6)  Dc  luminaribus  sive 
scriptoribus  ecclcsiasticis ;  (7)  De 
haeresibus  ;  are  the  chief.  Honorius 
died,  according  to  some,  in  1140  ; 
according  to  others,  after  1152. 


Frederic  Barbarossa  as  German  King,    ;        4  About  12  inches  by  10  ;  29J  by 
and  died  in  1153.  '    20i  centimetres.     See  Appendix,  pp. 

3  In  seven  books:  of  these  (1)  De       614-7. 


564      GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

of  Mainz  -,1  possibly  he  is  the  same  as  the  Archbishop  Henry, 
who  ruled  this  church  between  1142  and  1152.2  In  any 
case,  the  map  accompanies  a  work  which  was  written  about 
1110,  and  was  dedicated  to  the  famous  and  unfortunate 
Matilda,  wife  of  the  Emperor  Henry  V.,  daughter  of 
Henry  I.  of  England,  and  mother  of  Henry  II.  This 
work,  the  Imago  Mundi  de  dispositione  orbis,  a  compendious 
description  of  the  world,  containing  also  a  short  chronicle 
of  universal  history,3  was  copied  and  interpolated,  but  not 
originally  composed,  by  Henry  of  Mainz  ;  it  was  really  the 
work  of  a  contemporary,  Honorius  of  Autun.  The  map, 
however,  is  apparently  the  addition  of  the  scribe  Henry, 
and  is  not  derived  from  Honorius,  although  it  is  based  on 
another  and  older  design. 

It  is  oval  in  form,  of  small  size,4  and  contains  two 
hundred  and  twenty-nine  legends  or  inscriptions,  together 
with  a  large  number  of  unnamed  cities,  mountains,  and 
rivers,  whose  titles  can  for  the  most  part  be  ascertained 
with  the  aid  of  its  younger  relatives,  the  Ebstorf,  Psalter, 
Hereford,  and  Jerome  (?)  plans.  Although  the  present  world- 
scheme  is  apparently  intended  to  illustrate  the  Imago 
copied  by  Henry,  the  connection  between  the  two  is  but 
slender  ;  for  (as  in  the  case  of  the  '  Cottoniana '  and  the  text 
of  Priscian  it  accompanies)  the  peculiarities  of  the  chart 
are  often  not  in  the  manuscript,  nor  are  those  of  the  manu- 


1  In  1121  this  Canon  Heinrich 
appears  as  Priest  of  St.  Victor  ;  in 
1133  and  onwards  as  a  Priest  attached 
to  the  Cathedral  (of  Mainz).  He  is 
mentioned  in  various  charters. 

2  This  prelate  was  deposed  on  the 
charge  of  opposing  the  election  of 
Frederic  Barbarossa  as  German  King, 


imagine  mundi  ;  (2)  De  temporibus 
mat  thesis ;  (5)  De  aetatibus  mundi 
chronicon ;  (6)  De  luminaribus  sive 
scriptoribus  ecclcsiasticis ;  (7)  De 
haeresibus ;  are  the  chief.  Honorius 
died,  according  to  some,  in  1140  ; 
according  to  others,  after  1152. 
4  About  12  inches  by  10  ;  29^  by 


and  died  in  1153.  i    20fr  centimetres.     See  Appendix,  pp. 

3  In  seven  books  :  of  these  (1)  De   |    614-7. 


I  ■ 


I       i  | 


VII.]  MAP    OF    HENRY    OF    MAINZ  565 

script  usually  represented  in  the  map.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Mainz  design  is  obviously  related  to  the  Hereford  map, 
as  an  elder  to  a  younger  brother ;  and  the  similarities  of 
detail  in  these  two  works  may  be  traced  in  almost  every 
part  of  the  world  and  in  nearly  every  important  feature  of 
the  draughtsmanship.  Thus  both  have  the  same  widening 
of  the  Mediterranean  at  its  Eastern  extremity,  the  same 
projecting  horns  to  represent  the  angles  of  the  Levant,  the 
same  elongation  of  the  Black  and  Azov  Seas,  the  same 
approximation  of  the  last  to  the  Northern  Ocean.  Once  more, 
both  have  practically  the  same  Nile  system  and  the  same 
representation  of  African  mountains,  Asiatic  rivers,  and 
Oceanic  islands  ;  both  give  the  boundary  between  Asia  and 
Africa  in  much  the  same  way  ;  both  omit  to  specify  any 
definite  boundary  between  Asia  and  Europe ;  both  agree 
in  their  arrangement  of  the  surrounding  ocean,  in  their 
drawing  of  the  chief  parts  of  the  continental  coast-line,  and 
in  various  typical  details.1  At  the  same  time,  the  greater 
size  of  the  'Hereford'  enables  it  to  admit  a  far  larger  content ; 
and  this  greater  mass  of  material  appears  still  more  clearly 
on  the  '  Ebstorf,'  while  the  little  '  Psalter '  is  naturally  more 
limited,  though  far  more  crowded,  than  the  Mainz  copy. 
All  these  works  probably  spring  from  a  great  wall  map  of 
the  eleventh  century;  of  this  original,  Henry's  transcript 
is  more  accurate  but  less  complete ;  the  '  Hereford '  fuller, 
but  less  true  and  scholarly."2 

The    relationship   between    '  Henry '    and   the   so-called 
'  Jerome '  maps  is  almost  as  close3  as  that  between  Henry 

1  Such   as   the   British   Isles,    the  from  the  common  original,  as  well  as 

Caspian  and  Baltic  Seas,  the  neigh-  from   Henry  of   Mainz,    in    making 

bourhood  of  Paradise,  and  the  lands  Jerusalem  the  centre  of  the   world, 

of    the     Gog-Magogs,     the     Hyper-  and  in  adopting  an  absolutely  circular 
boreans,      and      the     Dog  -  Headed   |   instead  of  an  oval  form. 
Folk.  •"  And  closer  than  K.  Miller  seems 

-  Thus  'Hereford'  probably  departs  to  recognise. 


566       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

and  the  Psalter.  We  only  possess  the  Eastern  part  of  the 
Orbis  antiqitv.s  in  the  Jerome  examples,  but  here  the  likeness 
is  marked  ;  while  the  treatment,  in  the  Mainz  design,  of  the 
Twelve  Tribes  and  their  settlements  corresponds  with  the 
well-supported  tradition  that  the  celebrated  and  sainted 
editor  of  the  Vulgate,  who  passed  so  many  years  in  Syria, 
himself  composed  a  separate  treatise  and  map x  upon  the 
subject. 

The  details  in  the  Mainz  design  which  are  foreign  to  the 
Jerome  tradition  may  be  divided  into  three  classes,  respec- 
tively based  upon  iEthieus  of  Istria,2  upon  Solinus,  and  upon 
the  contemporary  knowledge  of  the  Central  Mediaeval  period. 
Among  these  last  we  may  notice  the  references  to  the 
Turks,  the  Danes,  and  the  Saxons;  the  mention  of  the  'Lake 
of  Nile '  ;  and  the  names  of  Rouen,  Pisa,  Iceland,  Lombardy, 
Frisia,  and  the  Gulf  of  Venice.3 

The  so-called  '  Jerome '  maps,  though  belonging  (as 
they  stand)  to  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,4  and 
written  in  the  script  of  that  time,  were  possibly  drawn 
under  the  direction,  if  not  by  the  hand,  of  that  Father, 
and  were  apparently  intended  to  illustrate  three  of  his 
lesser  treatises.5  Of  these  two  map-sketches,  one  repre- 
sents Palestine  and  Lower  Egypt  only  ;  the  other  deals 
with  the  Levant  in  a  wider  sense,  reaching  out  to  the 
Far  East ;  both  are  perhaps  fragments  of  a  lost  maprpe- 
monde.®     They   were  evidently  designed   in  colour,  but  this 


1  Now  lost. 

2  On  /Ethicus  of  Istria,  of.  Laicn  of 
Modern  Geography,  i.  pp.  355-361  ; 
on  Solinus,  ibid,  pp.  246-273. 

6  M:Af.?  Veneticum,  unique  in 
mediaeval  maps.  Among  these 
names  the  first  three  are  in  iEthieus  ; 
the  fourth   in   Solinus  ;  the  last  six 


especially. 

4  c.  1150  A. D. 

3  De  Hebraicis  Quaestionibus ;  De 
Nominibus  Locorum;  and  De  inter- 
pretationibus  Kominum  Veteris  ct 
Xovl  Testament!,  composed  in  A.D. 
33S. 

'•  But  perhaps  the  real  scope  of  the 


>elong  to   Henry's   own   time   more   i    larger  map  is  rather  the  Bible  World. 


wwm 


THE    LARGER    'JEROME     MAP  OF  TIIK   TWELFTH    CENTURY    (MIDDLE). 


[  To  face  p.  566. 


VII.]  THE    'JEROME'     MAPS  567 

has  only  been  carried  out  in  part  ;  the  shape  of  each  is 
almost  exactly  square,  the  larger  measuring  about  12 
inches,  the  smaller  about  8,  in  length  and  breadth.1 
The  Palestine  map  is  probably  illustrative  of  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Onomasticoii"  of  Eusebius,  made  by  Jerome  ; 
and  the  original  work  of  the  Greek  historian  seems  also 
to  have  been  accompanied3  by  a  picture,  or  plan,  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  Temple,  as  well  as  by  a  genealogical 
scheme  which  showed  the  divisions  and  settlements  of 
the  Twelve  Tribes.  This  scheme  was  apparently  trans- 
ferred (either  by  Eusebius  himself,  or  by  an  early  copyist 
of  his  writings)  to  a  sketch-map,  which  served  as  a  quarry 
for  many  later  draughtsmen  ;  among  these  we  may  per- 
haps include  Orosius  in  the  fifth  century  and  (through  the 
medium  of  Orosius)  the  designer  of  the  'Cottoniana'  at  the 
end  of  the  first  millennium. 

The  Venerable  Bede,  in  his  work  On  the  Place-Names  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  shows  an  intellectual  relationship  with 
the  '  Jerome '  maps  so  close  as  to  support  the  belief  that 
he  knew  and  used  these  works.  Their  content,  both 
'  sacred '  and  '  profane,'  agrees  closely  with  the  fourth- 
century  date  required,  and  with  the  other  geographical 
disquisitions  of  the  great  Roman  Doctor ;  they  are  em- 
phatically pre-mediaeval ;  indeed,  they  contain  very  few 
entries,  and  those  easy  of  interpolation,4  which  refer  to  a 
time  distinctly  later  than  St.  Jerome.  The  Earthly 
Paradise   is   not    marked,   nor   the    world-centre    at    Jeru- 

1  More   exactly   (a)    35.5  by  35. S  "'  According  to  Jerome, 

centimetres;    and    (/3)  23.6   by  22.1  4  Chief  of  these  is  tbe  identification 

centimetres.  of    Bulgaria    and    Moesia    ('Moesia 

'-'  Cf.  also  Eusebius,  On  the  Names  liaec  et  Bulgaria'),    which  refers  to 

of    Races,    and    the     same    writer's  the    Bulgar    emigration     (from    the 

Description    of   Judaea,    both    illus-  Middle   Volga,   etc.)   about   679  ;  cf. 

trated  in  these  maps  to  a  less  degree.  ]i}>.  478-9  of  this  vol. 


568      GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

salem ;  and  the  richness  of  ancient  geographical  detail, 
untouched  by  Dark- Age  legend,  points  clearly  to  the  time 
of  the  Old  Empire. 

The  draughtsman's  original  purpose  was  evidently  the 
illustration  of  the  Biblical  localities  described  in  the 
Onomasticon,  and  similar  works ;  just  as  Beatus  started 
with  a  purpose  of  depicting  the  Apostolic  missions  in 
various  regions  ;  or  as  the  '  Macrobius '  and  '  Sallust '  maps 
originated  in  the  desire  of  explaining  certain  passages  in 
those  authors.  But  Jerome's  wider  design  is  carried  into 
regions  beyond  the  scope  of  Eusebius'  descriptive  cata- 
logue and  even  in  the  sectional  Palestine-map  there  is  a 
certain  difference  of  treatment.  For  whereas  the  Bishop 
of  Caesarea  had  left  out  some  of  the  larger  Syrian  towns, 
and  enumerated  many  insignificant  ones,  St.  Jerome's 
sketch  supplies  us  with  nearly  all  the  capitals  and  omits 
some  of  the  hamlets. 

The  extra-scriptural  content  of  the  'Jerome'  maps  belongs 
to  the  oldest  type  of  post-Ptolemaic  mappe-inoncle.1  Plinian 
material  is  largely  used,  sometimes  in  a  manner  that  reminds 
one  of  Solinus,  while  some  reference  is  apparently  made  to 
a  Eoman  road  map,  similar  to  the  Peutinger  Table,  which 
marked  the  imperial  provinces,  with  two  of  the  leading  towns 
in  each.2 

The  '  Psalter '  Map  of  about  1250  is  the  last  example 
we  need  take  here  of  this  family  of  cartographical  designs ; 
for  '  Ebstorf '  and  '  Hereford '  lie  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
period  now  under  review  (900-1260),  and  '  Henry  of  Mainz ' 
and  the  '  Jerome  '  maps  have  been  already  noticed.      The 


1  The  larger  scheme  has  278 
legends  ;  the  smaller,  195  ;  66  being 
common  to  both  ;  and  among  these 
only  two  or  three  appear  to  be  later 


than  the  fourth  century. 

2  On     the     '  Jerome '     maps     see 
Appendix,  pp.  605-8. 


THE    -PSALTER'    MAP  OF   TUP   THIRTEENTH    CENTURY    (.MIDDLE). 


[To  face  p.  568. 


VII.]  THE    'PSALTER'    MAP  569 

closest  relative  of  the  '  Psalter '  is  the  map  of  Ebstorf ;  but 
the  former  is  more  antique  in  character,  and  probably  bears 
a  closer  resemblance  to  the  common  original  (in  everything 
except  size  and  bulk  of  material)  than  any  other  of  this 
group.  Especially  this  would  seem  to  be  true  of  the  contour 
and  general  delineation  ;  the  argument  from  the  antique 
character  of  the  legends  and  place-names,  though  it 
supports  this  conclusion,  is  weakened  by  the  obviously 
weak  scholarship  of  the  draughtsman. 

In  the  present  design  we  have  an  extremely  small 
circular  map,  less  than  4  inches1  in  diameter,  crowded 
with  written  matter,  supplying  no  less  than  one  hundred 
and  forty-five  inscriptions,  but  from  a  scientific  point  of 
view  terribly  debased.  The  Gog-Magog  region,  and  the 
zone  of  monstrous  races  that  runs  along  the  southern 
coast  of  Africa,  are  important  marks  of  the  geographical 
mythology  of  the  Middle  Ages,  like  the  trees  of  the  Sun 
and  Moon,  which  come  into  the  map  from  the  Alexander 
romance.  Along  with  the  'Hereford'  and  the  larger 'Jerome' 
map,  the  '  Psalter '  is  of  peculiar  value,  as  filling  up  a  more 
complete  mediaeval  picture  of  the  Far  East. 

We  may  compare  this  work,  as  an  illustration  of  a 
Manuscript  of  the  Book  of  Psalms,  with  the  scheme  of 
Beatus,  at  least  in  this,  that  both  originate  in  the  ornamenta- 
tion or  illustration  of  a  certain  portion  of  Scripture  ; — of 
the  Hebrew  poetry  in  one  case,  of  the  Apocalypse  in 
the  other.  Illustrated  Psalters2  are  very  ancient;  the 
British  Museum  possesses  one  of  about  a.d.  700  ;  and 
the  Albi  map3  of  the  eighth  century,  which  occurs  in  a 
volume  of  Glosses  on  the  Gospels,  furnishes  another  parallel 
to  this  Biblical  cartography. 

1  8h  centimetres  exactly.  lustrated  'Genesis'  of  the  fifth  century. 

2  But  in  no  other  illustrated  Psalter  3  Cf.  Davm  of  Modern  Geography,!. 
lias  a  map  been  found  ;  of.  also  an  il-    ,    pp.  385-386. 


570      GEOGRAPHICAL   THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch. 

Another,  more  obscure,  but  deeply  interesting,  family  of 
mediaeval  maps  falls  within  the  limits  of  this  period  :  it  is 
composed  of  the  inter-related l  designs  of  Lambert  of  St. 
Omer,  the  '  Macrobius '  and  '  Sallust '  map-illustrations,  and 
the  'Climate'  and  T"0  sketches. 

Lambert,  Canon  of  St,  Omer,  was  the  compiler  of  an 
Encyclopaedia,  called  Liber  Floridus,  composed  of  extracts 
from  one  hundred  and  ninety -two  different  works.  Tn  this 
he  has  left  us  a  chronicle  which  reaches  to  the  year  1119,2 
and  which  contains  various  maps,  including  a  mappe-monde, 
originally3  of  a  date  at  least  earlier  than  1125,  and  surviving 
in  three  forms.4  In  spite  of  a  clearly-expressed  intention  of 
supplying  a  complete  world-map,  the  oldest  copy,  that  of 
Ghent,  only  gives  us  Europe,  two  Macrobian  zone  sketches, 
and  a  T'O  design  ;  the  two  later  redactions,5  though  con- 
taining a  less  detailed  Europe,  both  possess  the  complete 
mappe-monde,  together  with  a  special  and  interesting  addition. 
Nowhere  else  in  mediaeval  cartography  do  we  find  greater 
prominence  assigned  to  the  Unknown  Southern  Continent, 
the  '  Australian  '  land  of  the  '  Fabled  Antipods.'  On  the 
Paris  manuscript  a  long  inscription  defines  this  '  region  of 
the  South,'  as  '  temperate  in  climate,  but  unknown  to  the 
sons  of  Adam,,  having  nothing  which  belongs G  to  our  race.' 
The  Equatorial r  Sea,  which  here  divided  the  [great  land 
masses  or  continents  of  the]  world,  was  not  visible,  proceeds 


1  Consciously,  according  to  Miller  ; 
but  even  if  unconsciously,  none  the 
less  truly  inter-related. 

2  And  alludes  to  a  few  matters 
subsequent  to  1119. 

3  Like  the  text. 

4  In  the  MSS.  of  Ghent,  Wol- 
fenbiittel  and  Paris.  The  Ghent 
copy  seems  to  have  been  written  by 
Lambert  himself,  certainly  not  later 


than  1125.  Its  Europe  contains  some 
remarkable  peculiarities. 

5  I.e.  Wolfenbiittel  and  Paris  of 
about  1150.  These  are  simply 
different  copies  from  the  same 
original,  which  was  doubtless  of 
Lambert's  own  draughtsmanship. 

fi  '  Or  is  related.' 

7  Lit,,  '  Mediterranean.' 


VII.]  LAMBERT    OF    ST.    OMER  S    MAPS  571 

the  legend,  to  human  eye  ;  for  the  full  strength  of  the  sun  l 
always  heated  it,  and  permitted  no  passage  to,  or  from,  this 
southern  zone.  In  the  latter,  however,  was  a  race  of 
Antipods  (as  some  philosophers  believed),  wholly  different 
from  man,  through  the  difference  of  regions  and  climates.'2 
'  For  when  we  are  scorched  with  heat,  they  are  chilled 
with  cold  ;  and  the  northern  stars,  which  we  are  permitted  to 
discern,  are  entirely  hidden  from  them.3  .  .  .  Days  and  nights 
they  have  of  one  length  ;  but  the  haste  of  the  sun  in  the 
ending  of  the  winter  solstice  causes  them  to  suffer  winter 
twice  over.' 4 

The  ideas  here  expressed  are  supplemented  by  the 
suggestion  of  two  more  unknown  continents  or  earth- 
islands,  one  in  the  Northern  and  the  other  in  the  Southern 
hemisphere,  lying  in  the  expanse  of  an  all-encircling  and 
dividing  Ocean.  Four  land-masses,  therefore,  are  apparently 
assumed ;  of  these,  the  first  two  were  the  ancient  OiJwumenS,5 
and  the  'Australian'  region  just  described ;  the  others  were  on 
the  reverse  side  of  the  globe  (corresponding  in  some  respects 
with  the  North  and  South  America  of  later  discoveries),  and 
were  divided  by  a  tropical  arm  of  Ocean,  in  the  same  way 
as  the  two  '  islands '  of  the  Eastern  Hemisphere.  This, 
at  least,  was  the  full  theory  of  the  ancient  geographers,  such 
as  Krates  of  Hallos,  to  whom  Lambert's  scheme  must  be 
traced.  The  present  map,  however,  only  indicates  the  third 
and  fourth  continents  by  little  circles  placed  in  the  margin 
of  the  Roman  World,  or  Flabitable  Earth,  and  respectively 
;     Going    just    overhead    by    the   j        4  Lastly,     to    the    south    of    this 


milky  way.' 

-  And  '  of  times  and  seasons. ' 
J  The  following  curious  words  arc 
added  : — 'Nulla  alia  astra  sunt,  quae 
illonun  obtutibus  denegentur.  Et 
quae  simul  cum  illis  oriuntur,  simul 
eveniunt  in  occasum.' 


temperate  Australia,  Lambert  places 
a  zone  of  extreme  cold,  uninhabitable 
by  living  creatures. 

5  Africa  being  supposed  to  end 
north  of  the  Equator,  and  the 
Equatorial  Belt  itself  to  be  covered 
by  an  impassably  hot  tropical  Ocean. 


572      GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

entitled  '  Paradise,'  to  the  North-East,  and  '  Our  Antipodes,' : 
to  the  South-West.  The  last  term  is  clearly  to  be  under- 
stood of  the  Continental  mass  exactly  opposite  to  Europe 
on  the  other  side  of  the  globe,  inhabited  by  living  (but  not 
apparently  human)  beings,  and  having  day  and  night  in  an 
'  opposite  relation '  to  our  own  ;  while  the  Paradise  island 
is  probably  to  be  interpreted,  in  the  same  way,  as  precisely 
antipodean  to  the  Australian  Continent  already  described. 
The  expression  of  this  theory  in  Lambert's  map  was  perhaps 
derived  in  the  first  place  from  Macrobius  or  Martianus 
Capella,  but  ultimately  it  depended  on  the  speculations  of 
a  much  higher  antiquity,  like  the  apparent  indication  of 
the  Ecliptic 2  in  this  design,  and  the  suggestion  of  a  T"0 
form  in  the  general  contour  of  'Our  World,'3  which  is  also 
to  be  found  here. 

But  if  Lambert's  '  universal '  conceptions  are  so  narrowly 
dependent  upon  classical  antecedents,  it  may  be  expected 
that  the  detailed  material  of  the  map  will  also  display  a 
markedly  antique  character ;  and  indeed  the  relationship 
between  the  mediaeval  geographers  and  those  of  the  later 
Imperial  time  is  seldom  found  in  more  complete  expression. 
Most  of  the  hundred  and  eighty  inscriptions  are  entirely 
ancient,  and  must  be  referred  to  a  lost  design  of  the  old 
Eoman   world :    the   chief  additions   to   this  pre-mediaeval 


1  As  to  these  (in  the  Western 
Ocean)  the  legend  here  declares 
'  noctem  diversam  diesque  contrarios 
perferunt,  et  [occasus  astrorum] ' ;  the 
last  two  words  being  Santarem's  em- 
endation for  the  '  estatoruni '  of  Paris 
and  the  '  estatem '  of  Wolfenbiittel. 
We  may  contrast  Lambert's  classical 
and  more  scientific  use  of  '  antipodes ' 
with  the  merely  conventional  {i.e. 
mediaeval)  employment  of  the  term 
in  the  Beatus  Maps,     The  idea  of  an 


under-sea  course  of  rivers  from  a 
trans-Oceanic  Paradise  to  the  Oikou- 
vienS  is  common  to  Lambert  and 
Cosmas  Indico-pleustes. 

2  In  the  form  of  a  crooked  line 
running  over  the  Equator  and  marked 
by  three  star-pictures.  The  obliquity 
of  the  sun's  path  is  clearly  suggested. 

3  I.e.  The  Oikoumeni,  the 
Northern  or  '  Roman '  land  -  mass 
of  the  Eastern  Hemisphere.  See 
Appendix,  pp.  G 2 1  - -1 . 


VII.]      LAMBEET    AND    THE   '  MACROBIAN  '   SCHEMES       573 

material  are  made  from  the  geography  of  Lambert's  own 
period.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  writer  derived  his  ideas 
or  place-names  from  the  classical  authors 1  named  in  the 
Liber  Floridus  (with  so  little  appearance  of  real  knowledge) ; 
on  the  contrary,  both  ground-plan  and  detail  probably  come 
from  a  lost  design  of  no  small  antiquity,  in  many  respects 
similar  to  that  from  which  Macrobius  drew. 

The  geographical  passages  of  the  last-named  author 2  were 
illustrated  from  an  early  period  by  certain  zone — or  climate — 
sketches,  depicting  the  chief  belts  or  parallels  of  the  world 
from  North  to  South,  and  adding  special  reference  to  various 
chapters  of  the  Commentary  on  the  Dream  of  Scipio.  More 
particularly,  these  sketches  illustrated  the  fifth  chapter  of  the 
second  book  of  this  Commentary — where  the  question  of 
the  climates  was  discussed,- — -the  close  of  the  first  book — 
devoted  to  the  attraction  of  the  earth  and  the  existence  of 
Antipodes, — and  the  seventh  chapter  of  the  second  book — 
which  explained  the  celestial  zones  and  ocean  currents. 

Ambrosius  Aurelius  Macrobius,  who  filled  high  offices  of 
state  under  the  Emperor  Honorius,  was  probably  a  Greek  by 
birth  and  a  Pagan  by  religion ;  his  writings  were  very 
popular  in  the  mediaeval  world,  and  he  shares  with  Sallust 
the  honour  of  special  map  illustration,  designed  for  him,  if 
not  by  him,  and  connected  in  his  case  (if  not  in  that  of 
Sallust)  with  other  groups  of  cartographical  designs. 

Among  the  Macrobian  sketches,3  some  give  us  nothing 
but  the  five,  or  seven,  zones  :  others  picture  the  two  earth- 
islands  of  the  Eastern  hemisphere,  which  we  have  noticed 

1  E.g.  Sallust.  Lucretius,  and  >  illustrated  by  citations  in  the  Liber 
Ptolemy.     Among  later  writers    Isi-       Floridus. 


dore,  Capella,  and  Orosius  seem  to 
have  the  nearest  relationship  to 
Lambert's  thought,  and  are  oftenest 


2  Ambrosius   Aurelius    Theodosius 
Macrobius,  fl.  c.  a.d.  410. 

3  See  Appendix  on  Maps,  pp.  625-6, 


574      GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION         [Oh. 

in  Lambert  of  St.  Omer.  Here  the  encircling  ocean  covers 
most  of  the  earth's  surface,  and  the  land-masses  are  reduced, 
in  Cicero's  words,  to  the  position  of  '  specks '  upon  the 
water,  while  the  chief  currents  from  equator  to  pole  are  indi- 
cated, apparently  as  the  chief  cause  of  the  tides. 

It  is  doubtful  how  soon  the  Macrobius  plans  were  altered 
by  mediaeval  copyists  to  the  uncertain  orientation  which  we 
find  in  the  manuscripts.  But  Macrobius  himself,  in  his  own 
mind,  certainly  put  the  north  at  the  top,  for  in  one  place1 
he  says  that  the  Upper  temperate  zone  was  inhabited  by 
men  of  our  race.  In  one  of  these  climate-maps,2  a  distinction 
is  drawn  between  the  domesticated  folk  of  the  same  temperate 
zone  and  the  wild  men  of  the  woods,  who  inhabited  arctic 
and  torrid  lands. 

The  Liber  Moridus 3  of  Lambert  contains,  besides  the  mappe- 
moride,  two  Macrobian  zone-maps  ;  and  indications  of  the 
same  character,  written  or  sketched,  may  be  found  in  many 
other  mediaeval  authors.  Thus  the  Venerable  Becle,  in  his 
I)e  temporum  rationed  discusses  the  five  climates,  and  perhaps 
supplies  the  accompanying  map,  in  which  the  equinoctial 
belt  and  the  four  great  segments  of  the  earth's  circle  are 
described  in  strict  agreement  with  Macrobius.5  Again,  the 
Imago  Mundi  of  Honorius  of  Autun  reproduces  Macrobian 
ideas,  both  in  text  and  illustration ; 6  while  another  twelfth- 
century  work,  the  Philosophy  of  Nature1  of  the  Parisian 
teacher,  William  of  Conches,s  contains  three  Macrobian  maps, 


1  Dream  of  Scipio ;  or,  in  full, 
Commentarius  ex  Cicerone  in  Som- 
nium  Scipionis,  ii.  5. 

2  Given  in  the  Venice  edition  of 
1489. 

:)  Cf.  fols.  24,  225  in  Ghent  MS. 
Also  in  the  Hague  MS. 

4  Chapter  xxxiv. 

5  E.g.  Comment.  Soma.  Scip.,\\.  6  : 
each  segment  measures  63,090  stadia. 


6  Of.  the  Macrobian  zone-map  in 
the  Paris  MS.  of  the  Imago. 

7  Magna  philosopMa  naturae. 

8  Near  Evreux.  He  taught  in  Paris 
c.  a. n.  1150.  Of  the  three  maps 
named,  the  first  has  the  North,  the 
second  has  the  East,  and  the  third 
the  West,  at  the  top.  Sacrobosco's 
map  hereafter  referred  to,  p.  575,  has 
the  South  uppermost. 


IMJV 

Snpe~Rias  criwFt'Riuscn.'vRi.-tjuor)  ixron  peRcoeTrraco 
Tfttrb  ciKcuom.^r.rrciRiN-1111-qansi  iNrSuT/tSTorus 

Q.R"BIj5JDTCri  PITU  R-qu.O  IHHADTTeKTtrR;  GST  e~Wl  M  SOISTI 

'mus  sniseKToiusTXK^^CK^Tj^ri?t:BT'i7\iai  i  issvyn 

lUTCR  SppeTOOR  e-TiMpeKiau,  HieMKtTS  sicqao  ptTtrr 
1  jxr>et> i c7  e r i MCT rc a ricr orbis or»?v_Rt3  c q rr?ct qtioo o\ i  o  rv- 
uioi  yRiooRe  esx  xwTR,a>rsones\BjT,e  esxcftjE^oepRekewsas 

VCOTlCIjS  ORBTg  .^arBITUSIWST/VOTTS  "OucewTlSW"1  Mqu.A 
\c,i>jia  otrOTScrS  fPTIXEHS  ~ 


9 

If   5 


•  <*.  i.    ^^etm      _    mat 


THE   MACROBIAN   'COTTON'    ZONE-MAP  OF  THE   TENTH    CENTURY. 


[To face]).  574. 


VII.]  '  MACROBIAN  '     AND    '  CLIMATE  '    MAPS  575 

— one  sketching  the  five  zones  and  the  zodiac,  another  showing 
the  two  earth  islands  of  the  Eastern  hemisphere,  the  third 
indicating  the  'Habitable  World,'  in  a  T"Q  form.  Yet 
again,  the  Abbess  Herrade  of  Landsberg,  in  her  Garden  of 
Delights  (about  1180  A.D.),  gives  us  a  slight  Macrobian  zone- 
sketch  with  the  ecliptic ;  and  another  of  the  same  kind  is  to 
be  found  in  the  Be  Sphaera  Muncli  of  John  Halifax  of  Holy- 
wood,  in  Yorkshire,  the  famous  Sacrobosco.  who  flourished  and 
wrote  in  Paris  about  1220. 

Lastly,  we  may  notice  in  certain  copies  of  Hyginus,  one  l  of 
which  is  perhaps  of  the  sixth  century,  a  zone-map  which 
depicts  the  four  land-masses  in  full  Kratesian  fashion. 

The  remaining  climate-maps2  are  not  always  easy  to 
distinguish,  except  by  the  absence  of  definite  Macrobian 
reference,  and  the  addition  of  non -Macrobian  matter,  from 
the  zone-schemes  just  noticed.  But  the  sketch  of  the  Spanish 
Jew,  Tetrus  Alfonsus  of  Huesca  (of  about  the  year- 11 00),  is 
obviously  designed  to  illustrate  the  Hindu  and  Arabic  con- 
ception of  the  world-centre  called  '  Arym,' 3  and  thus  has  a 
special  interest.  '  Arym '  was  sometimes  considered  as  a 
mathematical  centre-point  for  the  Habitable  World,  for  the 
Eastern  hemisphere,  or  for  the  whole  earth-circle  ;  sometimes 
as  '  the  throne  of  Iblis,'  a  home  of  accursed  spirits  ;  and 
sometimes  as  a  mysterious  and  lonely  mountain  in  the  midst 
of  the  Indian  Ocean.  In  the  eleventh-century  writings  of 
Gerard  of  Cremona,  if  not  earlier,4  it  passes  into  Latin 
thought ;  it  is  very  prominent  in  Roger  Bacon  :  and  here  in 
Petrus  Alfonsus,  and  other  '  schematists,'  it  is  adopted  as  a 
geographical  axiom  of  equal  importance  with  the  climates 
and  celestial  directions. 

1  Now  at  Wolfenbiittel,  once  at  [  3  Otherwise  Aren, 'Anm,' or 'Arin.' 
Bobbio.  i  E.g.  in  the   tenth-century  Plato 

-  See  Appendix  on  Maps,  pp.  626-7.       of  Tivoli, 


576       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  [Oh. 

Undoubtedly  these  climate-maps  had  their  origin  in 
Greek  science ;  Marinus  of  Tyre,  according  to  Masudi,  com- 
posed some  of  especial  excellence,  still  existing  in  the  tenth 
century ;  and  among  these  classical  examples  two  varieties 
may  be  distinguished.  In  the  former,  the  climate-scheme 
was  only  part  of  a  map-framework,  and  was  combined  with 
an  immense  amount  of  other  matter,  as  in  the  extant  work 
of  Ptolemy,  and  probably  in  the  lost  designs  of  Marinus. 
In  the  latter,  this  scheme  was  abstracted  from  all  else,  and 
sketched  in  roughly  outlined  maps  for  the  use  of  beginners. 
It  is  the  latter  form  that  passes  into  mediaeval  use. 

Lastly,  the  St.  Omer  map  is  suggestive,  not  only  of  the 
'  Macrobius '  and  other  climate  -  sketches,  but  also  of  that 
curious  variety  of  mediaeval  cartography,  known  as  the  T"0 
maps.1  These  are  very  numerous,  but  at  the  same  time  very 
similar  in  character ;  at  least  eighty  manuscripts,  reaching 
from  the  eighth  to  the  fifteenth  century,  contain  designs  of 
this  type ;  and  the  conception  of  one  and  all  is  fully  ex- 
pressed in  the  lines  of  Dati :  — 2 

'  Un  T  dentro  a  im  O  mostra  il  disegno 
Como  in  tre  parte  fu  diviso  il  mondo.' 

In  some  of  the  earliest  examples,  however,  the  T  and  Q 
formations  are  not  combined,  and  the  'dividing  letter'  is 
associated  with  square  and  oblong  as  well  as  with  round, 
enceintes. 

As  early  as  the  fifth  century  before  Christ,  some  of  the 
Ionic  philosophers  hit  upon  this  as  a  convenient  way  of  indicat- 
ing the  chief  divisions  of  the  OiJcoumene,  or  Habitable  World, 
and  in  spite  of  Aristotle's  contempt,  it  survived  as  a  popular 
favourite,  like  the  climate-sketches  and  Kratesian  schemes 
1  See  Appendix  on  Maps,  pp.  627-31.  *  Sphera,  iii.  11, 


•s 


VII.]  T-O  maps  577 

already  referred  to.  There  were  man}'  differences  of  detail, 
though  Greece  was  usually  placed  at  the  midst  of  the  circle,1 
and  Delphi,  or  Delos,  in  the  midst  of  Greece ;  some  of 
these  T  or  T-O  designs  made  Europe — some  Asia — the 
largest  of  the  Continents,  but  no  one  gave  the  pre- 
dominance to  Africa,  then  commonly  believed  to  end  on 
this  side  of  the  Equator.  These  simple  plans,  grouping  the 
chief  land-masses  of  the  known  world  in  an  easily  recognis- 
able shape,  were  generally  associated  with  the  allied  con- 
ception of  a  centre  for  the  circuit  of  the  earth,  for  the 
infinitely  extended  horizon.  They  did  not  of  necessity  deny 
the  theory  of  a  globular  earth;  but  they  were  concerned, 
and  only  concerned,  with  its  aspect  as  a  surface,  flat  or 
slightly  curved,  as  apparent  to  the  ordinary  observer. 

In  some  of  the  T"0  family,  traces  may  also  be  observed 
of  the  three-cornered  representations  which,  like  the  square, 
or  four-sided,  sketch-maps,  were  in  favour  in  ancient  schools.2 
For  the  one,  the  threefold  division  of  continents,  of  seas,  of  the 
Christian  Godhead  ;  for  the  other,  the  four  quarters  of  the 
heavens,  the  four  chief  winds,  even  the  four  Gospels,  were 
quoted ;  and  to  each  variety  there  are  numerous  allusions. 
A  clear  description  of  a  X  scheme  is  given  by  St.  Augustine, 
who  probably  used  a  work  of  this  kind,  though  at  the  same 
time  he  can  hardly  have  been  ignorant  of  a  very  different 
style  of  chart — the  road-map,  in  ribbon  form,  of  which  we 
possess  a  copy  in  the  Peutinger  Table. 

The  earliest  among  the  T"0  examples  of  the  Dark- Age 
and  Crusading  Periods  are  to  be  found  in  the  works  of  St. 
Isidore;3  and  in  a  measure  these  may  be  considered  as 
typical  of  all  others.     Here,  besides  the  three  continents,  we 

1  Where  tin.'  O  form  was  combined  two  are  here  specially  referred  to  as 
with  the  X-  archetypal ;  eleven  others  in  St.  Isi- 

2  Ci'.  Orosius,  II.  ii.  dore's  works  are  quite  unimportant, 

3  Etymologies,  xiv.  2,  3  ;  of  these 

2  o 


578       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  [Oh. 

have  the  names  of  the  three  sons  of  Noah,  one  patriarch 
being  attached  to  each  continent ;  the  East  is  at  the  top  ;  and 
the  '  Great '  or  Mediterranean  Sea  occupies  the  whole  of 
the  T-f°rmed  intersection  of  the  land.1  Other  specimens 
develop  the  simple  titles  of  Asia,  Skem,  and  the  like,  by 
explanatory  inscriptions  which  declare  (for  instance)  that 
Asia  is  named  after  a  Queen  Asia,2  and  is  inhabited  by 
27  peoples  ;  that  Africa  is  derived  from  Afer,  a  descendant 
of  Abraham,  and  has  30  races  with  360  towns ;  and  that 
Europe,  so  called  from  the  Europa  of  mythology,  is  over- 
spread by  the  15  tribes  of  the  sons  of  Japbet,  possessing 
120  cities. 

Besides  the  (sixth  century)  Isidorian  examples,  one  other 
T"0  maP — and  only  01ie — deserves  special  mention.  This 
is  the  Byzantine  sketch  of  1110,  now  at  Oxford,  which 
contains  some  features  of  high  antiquity,  and  is  one  of  the 
earliest  plans  where  Jerusalem  appears  in  the  centre  of  the 
earth.  Both  Greek  and  Latin  titles  are  here  given  for  the 
quarters  of  the  heavens ;  the  Twelve  Tribes  of  Israel  and  the 
locations  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  are  indicated;  and  from 
these  indications,  combined  with  the  barbarous  confusions 
of  Levantine  place-names,  we  may  with  some  assurance 
infer  that  we  have  here  a  copy,  poorly  executed  by  an 
ignorant  scribe  in  Western  Europe,  of  a  Byzantine  work 
brought  home  by  some  of  the  earliest  Crusaders  about  the 
year  1100.3 

The  threefold  division i  of  the  world  is  expressed  in  some 5 


1  Hence  these  are  sometimes  called 
Noachic  maps. 

2  '  Of  the  posterity  of  Shem.' 

:;  St.  John's  Coll.  Lihr.,  Cod. 
membr.  fol.,  xvii.,  fol.  6.  For  other 
T"0  maps,   e.g.   the   Strassbnrg   of 


c.    870,    or  the    St.    Omer    of   1010 
see  Appendix,  pp.  628-30. 

4  Trifaria  Orbis  Divisio. 

5  Especially  those  of  '  Gorlitz '  and 
'  Rome.'  In  these  the  "["  has  lost  its 
rigidity  ;  the  idea  of  a  central  point 


VII.] 


T-O    AND    SALLTJST    MAPS 


579 


of  the  'Sallust'  maps1  far  better  than  in  the  T"0  plans  of 
the  usual  type.  Here  we  have  a  partition  of  the  Oikoumene 
into  fairly  equal  continents,  but  with  less  rigid  symmetry, 
and  in  a  way  more  reconcilable  with  scientific  views,  Asia 
having  a  slight  preponderance,  and  definite  allusion  being- 
added  to  the  17th,  18th,  and  19th  chapters  of  the  Jagurtlia? 
It  was  probably  at  an  early  date,  long  anterior  to  our 
oldest  surviving  Sallust  manuscript,  if  not  in  the  lifetime 
of  the  author  himself,  that  the  original  Sallust  map  was 
inserted ;  but  this  plan  was  either  admitted  into  very 
few  copies,  or  was  replaced  in  most  by  an  ordinary  T"0 
map,  lacking  all  definite  reference  to  Sallust  materials. 
The  oldest  example,  the  '  Leipzig,'  of  about  980,  probably 
shows  us  certain  features  of  this  primitive  type,  a  pre- 
Christian  scheme,  without  Jerusalem,  and  with  an  over- 
shadowing Home.  For  this  primitive  type  the  authorship 
of  a  priest  in  North  Italy,  somewhere  between  600  and 
700,  has  been  suggested  ;  but  it  may  fairly  be  referred  to  a 
time  before  the  destruction,  if  not  before  the  conversion,  of 
the  Roman  Empire  in  the  West.3 

Next  in  order  we  may  glance  at  some  examples 4  of 
Cliorography ,  of  the  detailed  representation  of  limited  areas  ; 
and  among  these,  the  most  elaborate  belong  to  the  school 
we  may  call  Sionist,  as  being  concerned,  mainly  or  ex- 
clusively, with  the  topography  of  Jerusalem.  The  best- 
known  of  these  Sionist  plans  perhaps  belongs  to  the 
Crusading     period,   and    goes    by   the    name    of   the    Situs 


is  not  expressed ;  and  the  general 
conception  refers  rather  to  a  threc- 
comered  world  than  to  an  exact 
tripartite  division  of  the  same. 

1  See  Appendix  on  Maps,  pp.  631  -2. 

-  Especially  eh.  17.     None  of  the 


copies  are  important  enough  to  be 
described,  except  in  the  Appendix: 
on  Maps,  pp.  631-2. 

3  All  existing  Sallust  maps  conform 
more  or  less  closely  to  the  T"0  type 

4  See  Appendix  on  Maps,  pp.  633-8. 


580       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION 


[Oh. 


Hicrusaleni ;  but  a  far  more  important  specimen  has  lately 
come  to  light  from  a  much  earlier  time. 

The  Mosaic  Map  of  Madaba,1  which  is  here  in  question, 
though  a  discovery  of  the  last  two  decades,  belongs  to  the 
later  time  of  Justinian  (about  550),  and  may  claim  to  be 
the  oldest  existing  specimen  of  Christian  cartography.  For 
although  the  original  designs  of  Cosmas  Indicopleustes  may 
have  been  executed  twenty  or  thirty  years  earlier,  the 
earliest  manuscript  we  possess  of  the  Christian  Topography 
does  not  carry  us  back  further  than  the  ninth  century. 
Compared  with  the  latter,  the  Madaba  Mosaic  is  of 
much  greater  merit,  as  far  as  we  can  judge  from  its 
broken  and  damaged  state ;  it  is  not  unworthy  of  the 
Restored  Empire  and  its  glories  in  arms,  in  legislation,  or 
in  architecture  ;  and  it  increases  our  regret  for  the  loss  of 
so  much  Byzantine  work  in  this  as  in  other  fields. 

The  Madaba  map  covers  Palestine  and  parts  of  Egypt  and 
Arabia ;  one  of  its  special  objects  is  clearly  to  delineate  the 
Holy  City ;  and  it  probably  reproduces  with  fair  exactitude 
the  condition  of  Jerusalem  half  a  century  before  the  Persian 
sack  in  6142  The  extension  of  the  design  is  somewhat 
similar  to  the  smaller  '  Jerome '  map,  where  Neapolis  or 
Nablus  lies  in  the  middle,  and  the  Mediterranean  forms 
the  Western  limit.  In  its  pictorial  character,  and  especially 
in  its  town-vignettes,  the  Madaba  plan  recalls  both  the 
Peutinger  Table,  and  some  of  the  Beatus  examples.3 

Here  then  we  have  one  of  the  oldest  pictures  yet  dis- 
covered  of  Jerusalem  (outside  the  Egyptian  and  Assyrian 


1  It  should  have  been  noticed  in  a 
former  volume,  but  that  it  has  only 
been  described  by  European  scholars 
since  the  publication  of  The  Dawn 
of  Modern  Geography,  vol.  i.,  in 
1S97. 


2  Viz.  c.  a.d.  545-565. 

3  Notably  the  'Paris'  of  1150 
('  Paris  iii.'),  whose  illustrations  show 
little  resemblance  to  the  sketches  of 
a  flat  design,  but  much  to  those  of 
a  mosaic  plan. 


TttE>fi\DXBA 

OF  THE  VI ^  CENTURY   MIDDLE- 


0   10  20       40       60      SO      100      120  . 


""a  UfljlOCClN 

^  „ „  w 


S&.'. 


li 


ij 


THE  MADABA  MOSAIC  MAP  OF  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY  (MIDDLE). 


[To face  p.  580, 


VII.] 


THE    MADABA    MAP 


581 


monuments),  one  of  the  first  specimens  of  Christian  map- 
making,  and  apparently  one  of  the  earliest  illustrations  of 
the  division  of  Palestine  among  the  Twelve  Tribes  of  Israel.1 
It  is  of  course  strictly  ecclesiastical  in  type,  for  it  was 
designed  for  the  pavement  of  a  church.  Most  of  its 
one  hundred  and  thirty  place-names  correspond  with  the 
notices  of  Eusebius ; 2  but  one  entry  appears  to  refer  to  a 
monastic  foundation 3  of  the  early  sixth  century  on  the  east 
side  of  Jordan ;  and  in  some  places  the  text  is  unique.4 

From  the  fragments  discovered  it  is  clear  that  the  original 
once  occupied  a  space  of  about  fifty  by  twenty  feet ;  the 
length  is  from  North  to  South  ;  but  the  east  is  at  the  top, 
as  in  most  primitive  and  mediaeval  Christian  designs.  All 
the  north  part  of  the  mosaic  has  been  destroyed,  except  two 
morcels  and  what  remains,  in  all  about  half  of  the  complete 
scheme,  is  mainly  concerned  with  the  country  between 
Nablus  and  the  Nile.  The  orientation  has  been  greatly 
disturbed  by  the  assumption  of  the  Levant  coast  (from 
Alexandria  to  Acre)  as  a  base,  supposed  to  furnish  a  line 
running  almost  due  north  and  south. 

In  general,  this  plan  may  be  regarded  as  a  decorative, 
freely  conceived,  and  well-informed,  but  not  closely  scientific, 
illustration  of  Bible  history.  Names  and  objects  are  not 
kept  in  any  strict  proportion  ;  the  perspective  is  con- 
ventional ;  but  the  rich  store  of  inscriptions  furnishes  not 
a  few  details  of  interest.  In  the  larger  towns,  such  as 
Jerusalem,   Pelusium,  and  Gaza,   an    attempt    is    made    to 


1  This  is  conjectural,  but  very 
probable,  from  the  fragments  as  yet 
recovered. 

2  Especially  in  the  Onomasticun, 
i.e.  the  early-middle  of  the  fourth 
century. 

:!    The  Convent    of   St.   Saphas   or 


Sapsaphas,  a  saint  contemporary  with 
Elias,  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  a.i>. 
'49-1-518.'  This  place  is  named  as 
Sapsas  by  Johannes  Moschos  in  the 
seventh  century. 

4  Sometimes  older  and  newer  forms 
are  gr\  en  together. 


582       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  fc6=- 

represent  the  principal  streets  by  elaborate  colonnades,  and 
even  to  portray  some  of  the  chief  buildings,  sometimes  in 
round,  sometimes  in  angular  forms.  Cities  of  the  second 
class  are  indicated  by  sketches  of  walls  flanked  by  round 
towers.  Each  of  the  Tribes  of  Israel  seems  to  have 
originally  appeared — the  names  being  marked  by  great  red 
letters,  accompanied  in  some  cases  by  a  text  of  Old  Testa- 
ment prophecy.  But  in  what  remains  only  six  tribes  can 
still  be  found,  and  several  of  these  {e.g.  Symeon)  survive 
in  a  very  fragmentary  state. 

In  the  plan  of  Jerusalem  the  two  great  streets,  marked 
by  covered  galleries,  which  run  across  the  city  from  north 
to  south,  probably  represent  the  markets  or  bazaars  of 
Justinian's  time,  sacked  by  the  Persians  of  Chosroes  in 
614;  while  the  Church  near  the  Western  Gate,  with  its 
round  or  apsidal  end  facing  the  Mediterranean,  and  its 
staircase  communicating  with  the  colonnade  street  in  the 
centre  of  the  town,  represents  the  Holy  Sepulchre  of 
Constantine  and  Helena,  the  first  of  the  successive  Chris- 
tian sanctuaries  on  the  site  of  the  Passion. 

In  Lower  Egypt  and  the  Desert  of  Sinai  are  a  number 
of  places  and  legends  ;  while  three  arms  of  the  Nile  are 
enumerated — the  Pelusiac  to  the  north  (east),  an  unnamed 
and  partially  destroyed  channel  to  the  south  (west),  and 
the  Sabennitic  in  the  middle,  with  three  ramifications — Saitic, 
Bucolic,  and  Bolbitic.  These  names  are  all  inscribed  along 
the  course  of  the  stream. 

The  city  of  Madaba,  Medaba,  or  Medeba,1  beyond  the  Dead 
Sea,  south  of  Heshbon,  and  south-east  of  Nebo  or  Pisgah, 
was  an  important  station  of  the  Old  Empire  on  its  Arabian 
frontier ;  it  lay  upon  the  Eoman  road  which  connected 
Damascus    with    Petra  and  the  Eed  Sea  ;  and  it  was  close 

'  Medaba  usually  in  Roman  writers  ;  Medeba  in  the  Bible. 


ubi  MifitHlii.Miir- 


7  \  \ 


THE   SITUS    HXERUSALEM,   C.    A.D.    Hull. 


|  To  face  p.  582. 


VII. 


THE    MADABA    MAP    AND    THE    '  SITUS ' 


583 


to  another  road  from  Jerusalem  and  Jericho,  which  crossed 
the  Jordan  and  united  with  the  Damascus-Petra  route 
at  Heshbon.  Once  it  belonged  to  the  Tribe  of  Eeuben ; 
from  the  fourth  to  the  sixth  century — from  the  time  of 
Constantine  to  the  Moslem  invasion — it  was  the  seat  of 
a  Christian  bishop  ;  and  thus  it  was  not  without  remains 
of  some  pretension  when,  after  twelve  centuries  of  neglect, 
the  Christians  of  Kerak  migrated  thither,  and  in  clearing 
away  the  rubbish,1  revealed  the  unsuspected  treasure  of 
this  mosaic-map. 


The  famous  Plan  of  Jerusalem,  or  Situs  Hicrusalem,2  of  the 
early  twelfth  century,3  has  been  often  coupled  with  the  tract 
Qualiter  sita  est  civitets  Hierusalem,  commonly  supposed  to  be 
a  paraphrase  of  the  material  provided  by  the  Situs.  It  is 
probable,  however,  that  Tobler  and  Molinier  are  right  in 
referring  this  pamphlet4  to  the  last  quarter  of  the  tenth 
century,  the  era  of  the  short-lived  and  partial  Byzantine 
reconquest  of  Syria  under  John  Tzimiskes.  One  copy  of 
the  Situs  appears  to  have  been  sketched  by  the  anonymous 
compiler  of  the  Gesta  Francorum  5 :  but  the  material  of  the 
sketch,  in  relation  to  the  Holy  City  itself,  is  far  more  ample 
than  what  is  given  us  in  the  Gesta.  Professedly,  but  not 
literally,  the  latter  follows  the  narrative  of  Pulcher  of 
Chartres,  who  described  the  First  Crusade  as  an  eye- 
witness ;  but  at  times  the  Gesta  agrees  with  the  Situs, 
and  differs  markedly  from  Fulcher.  The  tract  on  the 
City  of  Jerusalem,  however,  is  quite  independent  of  the 
Gesta,    and    assuming    its    aforesaid    tenth-century    origin, 


J    1880.    The  map   was   found   in 
December  1896. 
'J  Sec  Appendix  on  Maps,  pp.  636-8. 
:J  Some  put  back  the  date  to  1099. 
4  The  City  of  Jerusalem.     For  the 


text   of  the    Qualiter  sita,  est  cicitas 
Hierusalem,  ef.    Bociiti  cle  JJ  Orient 
Latin,  seri<:  geograpJiique,  i.  2,  345; 
edition  by  Tobler  and  Molinier. 
5  Probably  finished  before  1109. 


584       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEOEY   AND    DESCRIPTION         [Ch. 

under  Byzantine  inspiration,  it  would  seem  that  the 
draughtsman  of  the  Crusading  Situs  used  the  written  de- 
scription of  Tzimiskes'  time ;  while  the  author  of  the  Gcsta, 
ignorant  of  the  City  of  Jerusalem,  is  indirectly  connected 
with  the  same  through  the  medium  of  the  sketch-map l  he 
uses  and  transcribes. 

From  the  insertions  of  the  two  leading  copies 2  (at  St.  Omer 
and  Brussels),  it  appears  that  the  Situs  was  but  a  section  of 
a  more  extensive  original,  representing  parts  of  Galilee,3  the 
Upper  Jordan,  and  the  Way  of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt 
through  the  desert.  The  later  forms  of  this  plan,  such  as 
we  have  in  the  Copenhagen  transcript,  have  lost  all  these 
traces  of  a  wider  outlook  ;  even  the  surroundings  of  Jerusalem 
are  here  wanting ;  and  various  additions  appear,  of  a  date 
clearly  subsequent  to  the  First  Crusade.  Thus  the  Temple 
and  Sepulchre  of  the  Lord  no  longer  show  the  round  form 
which  is  noticeable  in  the  early  copies  of  the  Situs,  referring 
us  to  the  buildings  of  the  pre-Crusading  period. 


Lastly,  the  group  of  maps  which  own  the  common  author- 
ship of  Matthew  Paris  4  fitly  closes  the  cartography  of  the 
Central  Mediaeval  time. 

In  the  twelfth  and  earlier  thirteenth  century,  the  monastery 
of  St.  Albans  possessed  what  may  be  called  an  historical 
school,  or  institute,  which  was  then5  the  chief  centre  of 
English  chronicle,  and  with  different  environment  might 
have  become  the  nucleus  of  a  great  university.  Among  the 
writers  of  this  school,  the  greatest  was  Matthew  Paris 
(1195-1259),  whose  three  chief  works  contain  various  maps 


1  The  Situs. 

2  Of  these  copies  one  belongs  to  a 
twelfth-century  manuscript  of  the 
Gcsta,  the  other  is  hound  up  with 
the  Crusading  records  of  Fuleher. 


3  E.g.  Tabor  Magdalum,  etc. 

4  See  AjipendixonMaps, pp. 638-42. 

5  And  in  all  for  about  two  hundred 
years. 


wi.]  matthew  Paris'  maps  585 

and  plans  unsurpassed  in  mediaeval  geography,  before  the 
rise  of  the  Portolani.  Thus,  in  the  Historia  Major,  or  Cronica 
Majora,  we  have  the  so-called  Itinerary  to  the  Holy  Land,  or 
Stationes  a  Londinio  ad.  Hicrosolymam,  as  well  as  a  mappe- 
monde,  a  map  of  Palestine,  and  the  first  of  Matthew's  four 
maps  of  England.  Again,  in  the  Historia  Minor,  or  Historia 
Anylorum,  there  is  another  form  of  the  Palestine  Itinerary, 
the  second  and  third  maps  of  England,  and  the  Situs 
Britanniae.  Lastly,  in  the  History  of  St.  Albans,  a  portion  of 
the  supposed  Pilgrim-road,  as  far  as  South  Italy,  is  given  in 
another  shape,  together  with  the  Schema  Britanniac. 

Matthew  Paris,  then,  appears  as  the  author  of  six 
geographical  designs ;  a  world-map,  in  two  slightly  different 
forms ;  a  map  of  England,  in  four  variants ;  a  purely  con- 
ventional sketch  of  the  Heptarchy,  in  the  form  of  a  Rose  cles 
Vents;1  a  plan,  or  schema,  of  the  Eoman  roads  of  the  same 
country  ;  a  '  routier '  to  Apulia  from  the  English  Court ;  and 
a  map  of  Palestine,  which  tradition  has  wrongly  joined  with 
the  former,  to  make  a  Pilgrim  Itinerary  from  London  to 
Jerusalem. 

Among  all  designs  of  purely  mediaeval  origin,  Matthew's 
plans  of  England,  as  he  knew  it,  show  the  best  evidence  of 
critical  study,  the  most  systematic'  attempt  at  an  exact  de- 
lineation of  a  particular  country.  They  are,  in  fact,  remarkable 
instances  of  what  Ptolemy  called  Choroyraphy  or  regional 
geography  ;  and  they  would  be  even  more  important,  but  for 
another  consideration.  At  the  very  time  that  the  English 
chronicler  was  draughting  these  maps,  compass-charts  (based 
on  coast-surveys,  of  a  minuteness  hitherto  unknown)  were 
beginning  in  the  south  of  Europe.  Tn  comparison  with 
these  Portolani,  Matthew's  work  is  but  secondary;  for  at  his 
best  he  only  represents  approximate  and  traditional  know- 
1  The  Situs  Britanniae.     This  has  the  East  at  the  top. 


586       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  [Ch. 


ledge;  the  only  bases  of  true  geography,  the  fixing  of 
terrestial  positions  by  celestial  observations,  and  the  in- 
dependent and  detailed  examination  of  limited  areas  by 
practical  travellers,1  were  first  given  us  on  an  adequate  scale 
by  the  new  school  of  Mediterranean  pilots  and  map-makers. 
The  monk  of  St.  Albans  was,  after  all,  a  student  and  a 
bookman,  rather  than  an  independent  investigator  of 
nature. 

His  world-map,2  unlike  his  'England,'  is  of  small  value, 
though  it  is  curiously  different  from  all  other  mediaeval 
designs ;  perhaps  its  most  interesting  feature  is  an  inscrip- 
tion (placed  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Mount  Taurus)  which 
alludes  to  the  three  great  wall-maps  existing  in  or  near 
London  at  this  time  (c.  1250).  One  of  these  is  ascribed  to 
a  certain  Eobert  of  Melkeley ;  another  is  called  the  mapjpe- 
monde  of  Waltham  in  Essex ;  the  third  is  termed  the 
property  of  the  Lord  King  at  his  Court  in  Westminster. 
This  last  (whether  or  no  it  hung  in  the  Exchecpier,  as  some 
have  thought)  had  been  '  figured  by  the  direction '  of 
Matthew  Paris  himself ;  and  perhaps  the  same  authorship 
may  be  assumed  for  the  Waltham  map.  Some  features  of 
these  lost  examples  may  have  survived  in  the  fourteenth- 
century  work  of  Eanulf  Higden  ;  in  size  they  must  have 
resembled  the  '  Hereford  '  and  '  Ebstorf '  designs  ;  but  they 
probably  showed  a  better  draughtsmanship,  a  wider  and 
sounder  knowledge,  and  a  less  fabulous  spirit  than  the  latter. 
Yet  compared  to  Matthew's  England,  his  surviving  mappe- 
monde  is  a  disappointment ;  and  if  we  were  to  assume  that 
his  wall-maps  at  Westminster  and  elsewhere  presented  merely 


1  This,  repeating  infinitely  the 
actual  experience  of  wayfarers,  and 
expressing  the  result  in  extremely 
minute  detail,  was  but  faintly  ap- 
preciated by  the  Classical  World    and 


was  wholly  unknown  in  the  earlier 
Middle  Ages. 

2  This  measures  34.8  by  23.6 
centimetres,  and  contains  seventy- 
nine  legends. 


"~—,:v7rtirraipw 


lerSujl'. 


.'i.i,+..,Vup.  a^n 

4 


t  cnvftTDoa-  <-—»   3timnnTO-ftirtapftr6ift»ftoomavtomimtn  ,  si 

/If'  .  <     «^v^ftiiiorirtmiifirn,nTnirn*o2feii;trtTatib,i    0^* 


nwiil'' 


Cummin 


1    qt>  nrqi  chums  arcii  frt  m\w  tfrfcvni  ft  nofft  e 
ffttnfl  IntaMiSfc&hi  vbtioroptx^-rqitn  mis 


M.    PARIS'    WORLD-MAP  OP  THE   THIRTEENTH   CENTURY   (MIDDLE). 

{To facejj.  58G. 


YII-i  matthew  paris'  world-map  587 

the  same  features  on  a  larger  scale,  there  would  be  less 
reason  to  regret  the  loss  of  these  Orbes  picti. 

The  chief  thing  worthy  of  remark  in  this  world-map  is 
its  limitation.  For  it  is  not  really  a  mappe-monde,  but 
rather  a  sketch  of  Europe  and  the  adjacent  coasts  ;  only  the 
extreme  northern  edge  of  Africa  is  portrayed  ;  as  to  the 
parts  of  Asia  here  given,  the  author  has  so  little  intention 
of  working  them  out  in  detail,  that  he  covers  most  of  the 
spaces  with  the  inscription  just  noticed,  about  the  three 
wall-maps.  Even  the  Europe  of  this  example  is  not 
finished  ;  its  northern  coast  is  absolutely  straight,  and  ap- 
parently follows  the  requirements  of  the  sheet  or  page 
without  attempting  to  represent  the  true  shore-line.  The 
western  littoral  is  scarcely  better  ;  England,  which 
Matthew  knew  so  well,  is  entirely  omitted ;  and  it  would 
be  difficult  to  rate  the  compiler's  geography  at  a  high  level, 
if  we  only  possessed  this  design,  and  could  not  also  refer  to 
the  four  maps  he  has  left  us  of  his  native  country. 

These  last  (and  especially  the  two  examples  in  the 
Cotton  Library)  are  the  finest  achievements  of  mediaeval 
student-geography.1  In  Wales,  Devon,  and  Cornwall,  the 
Humber  estuary,  the  East  Anglian  peninsula,  and  the  line 
of  the  Severn,  the  execution  is  so  good  as  to  suggest 
modern  accuracy  :  but,  on  the  other  hand,  highland,  or 
ultra-marine,  Scotland,  is  treated  as  an  island  wholly 
separated  by  the  Firths  of  Forth  and  Clyde  from  the 
southern  region,  to  which  it  is  united  only  by  a  bridge. 

Heie  also,  fur  the  first  time  in  Xorthern  Europe,  we  have 
a  map  with  the  Xorth  at  the  top  ;  and  in  this  we  may  see 
a  victory  of  revived  scientific  feeling  over  the  ecclesiastical 

1  They    appear    to    tic    from    the   i    the     map    measures    33.8    by    22.3 
annalist's  own    hand   in   the  manu-       centimetres. 
scripts  we  possess.     In  the  best  copy 


588       GEOGRAPHICAL    THEORY    AND    DESCRIPTION  Ch. 

preference  for  the  East,  and  of  North-European  feeling 
over  the  Arabic  and  other  influence  which  had  made  the 
South  the  primary  quarter  of  the  heavens.  But  the 
Ptolemaic  arrangement,  here  reproduced  by  Matthew,  was 
also  better  adapted  for  a  sketch  of  the  long  and  narrow 
island  of  Britain,  tapering  towards  the  North,1  and  hence 
perhaps  its  reappearance  in  this  map. 

The  Situs  and  Schema  Britanniae  are  works  of  ex- 
tremely slight  interest ;  but  it  may  be  remarked  that  the 
latter,  which  deals  with  the  four  chief  Eoman  roads2  of 
England,  and  makes  them  intersect  at  Dunstable,  has  a 
peculiar  orientation,  with  the  West  at  the  top. 

Matthew's  so-called  Itinerary  from  London  to  the  Holy 
Land,  with  which  has  usually  been  reckoned  his  map  of 
Palestine,  is  not  really  a  connected  whole  ;  it  is  the  result 
of  combining  two  different  works,  a  pictorial  representation 
of  the  route  between  London  and  Apulia,  and  a  sketch  of  the 
Holy  Land.  In  the  former,  the  chief  stations  or  halting- 
places  are  indicated  in  sections  of  the  route,  beginning  at 
the  North,  the  chief  rivers  and  mountains  of  the  journey  also 
appearing  ;  in  the  latter,  we  have  a  map  of  Palestine,  with 
the  East  at  the  top,  in  the  ordinary  ecclesiastical  manner. 
The  connection  of  the  two  is  simply  in  the  fact  that  both 
are  by  Matthew  Paris ;  that  they  are  of  almost  the  same 
date  ;  and  that  each  is  written  in  Old  French  intermixed  with 
Latin. 

The  Itinerary  to  Apulia  is  not,  therefore,  part  of  a 
pilgrim  guide  to  the  Holy  Land  ;  but  rather  appears  to  be  a 


1  The  East  at  the  top  would  have 
made  Matthew's  England  run  on  to 
two  pages  of  the  MS.,  broken  in  the 
middle  1  >y  the  fold.  Again  the  North 
(from  the  Pole  Star  and  Great  Bear) 
had  obviously  greater  scientific 
claims.    The  Anonymous  Geographer 


of  Ravenna,  in  the  seventh  century, 
claims  to  have  composed  a  special 
map  of  Britain,  as  well  as  his  magpe- 
monde,  and  this  also  is  said  to  have 
had  the  North  at  the  top. 

2  Ermine   St.,   Watling   St.,    Iek- 
nield  St.,  and  the  Fosse  Way. 


MATTHEW    PARTS'    ITINERARY    FROM    LONDON  TO   APULIA    (SOUTH    ITALIAN 
SECTION)   OP  THE   THIRTEENTH    CENTURY   (MIDDLE). 


[To face p,  588. 


vii.]       matt,  paris'  England,  Palestine,  etc. 


589 


political  sketch,  with  the  following  history.  On  St.  Martin's 
Day,  1252,  one  Master  Albert,  a  Papal  notary,  appeared  at 
the  English  Court,  and  offered  to  Earl  Richard  of  Cornwall  the 
Kingdom  of  Apulia,  on  behalf  of  Pope  Innocent  IV.,  titular 
overlord  of  that  realm.  The  Earl  himself  looked  on  the 
gift  as  a  '  dominion  in  the  moon '  ;  but  his  brother,  King 
Henry  III.,  and  the  whole  English  Court  party,  were  eager 
to  accept  the  offer  ;  and  this  Itinerary  was  probably  com- 
posed 1  during  the  abortive  negotiations  on  the  matter,  with 
the  view  of  informing  and  fomenting  English  ambitions  as 
directed  on  South  Italy.'2  This  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that 
the  Itinerary  proper  reaches  only  to  Pome  ;  at  this  point 
it  assumes  a  new  character,  and  portrays  the  Norman  lands 
of  Pouille,  or  Apulia,  in  considerable  detail,  enumerating  all 
the  greater  towns.  No  list  of  stations  is  given  from  South 
Italy  to  the  Holy  Land,  and  it  is  pretty  clear  that  none  was 
intended. 

Matthew's  sketch  of  Palestine,3  so  often  connected  with 
the  Itinerary  just  mentioned,  is  in  some  of  its  more  general 
aspects  parallel  to  the  smaller  '  Jerome '  map ; 4  but  in  de- 
tails there  is  a  great  difference.  For  '  Jerome '  gives  us 
ancient  names  throughout,  while  the  English  chronicler 
inserts  many  indications  of  thirteenth-century  nomencla- 
ture and  history  ;  such  as  the  fortress-enclosures  of  the 
Templars,  the  Teutonic  Knights,  the  Pisan  and  Genoese 
merchants,  and  other  Western  corporations,  in  Acre  ;  or  the 
dwelling  of  the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain,  or  Chief  of  the 


1  From  descriptions,  not  always 
with  proper  orientation. 

-  This  is  all  recorded  in  the  long 
inscription  or  legend  over  '  Ponille  ' ; 
ct'.  Historic*.  Minor,  iii.  126.  Another 
inscription  at  Trapes  or  Trapani  in 
Sicily  tells  how  Earl  Richard  called 
here  « > ii  his  return  from  a  Crusade. 


3  This  is  accompanied  by  some 
vagne  indications  of  roads,  which, 
taken  together  with  the  camel 
picture,  points  to  a  commercial  object 
in  this  design. 

4  Both  have  the  North  at  the  top, 
Palestine  in   the  middle,  and    Egypl 

I    on  the  right. 


590      GEOGRAPHICAL   THEORY   AND    DESCRIPTION  [Oh.  VII. 

Assassins,  '  far  towards  the  North.'  The  text  of  this  map 
is,  in  fact,  closely  related  to  various  Itineraries  of  the  period 
of  Latin  domination  in  Syria,  such  as  Lcs  p&erinages  pour 
alter  en  Jdrusalevrij  Lcs  chemins  et  les  p&erinages  de  la  Terre 
Sainte,  or  La  device  des  chemins  de  Bahiloine  (viz.  Babylon 
of  Egypt).  The  first  of  these  is  of  1231,  the  second  of 
1265,  the  third  of  1289-1291,  but  it  is  probable  that 
earlier  redactions  of  the  two  last  already  existed  in 
Matthew's  time,  and  were  used  by  him.1 


1  Thus  La  diviee  mentions  the 
arm  of  the  river  which  the  '  French 
King's  people  passed  over ',  and 
herein  appears  to  refer  to  St.  Louis' 
Crusade  of  1251.  Cf.  SovtiU  de 
L'Orient,  serie  geographique,  iii.  vi. 
87  ;  x.  177  ;  xiii.  237.  Perhaps  in  his 
Palestine,  whose  form  is  traditional, 
while  its  content  is  largely  novel  (as 
in  other  works  of  the  same  author), 
Matthew  Paris  has  worked  up  an  older 
mappc-monde  ;  with  his  Acre  Ave  may 


compare  Marino  Sanuto's  plan  of 
1320 — a  later  development  on  a 
similar  basis.  From  1229  to  1291 
Acre  was  the  capital  and  the  only 
important  relic  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Jerusalem. 

On  Hasan  Ibn  Saba,  founder  of 
the  Assassins,  cf.  pp.  239-40  of  this 
volume  ;  the  destruction  of  this  sect 
by  the  Mongols  (in  1258)  is  one  of 
the  last  facts  noticed  in  the  Historia 
Major. 


,ii  of  tiiihtkkviii 


(     591     ) 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 


I. — In  the  case  of  the  Beatus  maps,  there  is  evidence  for  the 
existence  (besides  the  Original  of  c.  a. p.  776)  of  two  primitive  but 
vanished  copies  from  which  all  existing  examples  are  derived. 
The  Commentary  and  its  World-Picture  were  perhaps  composed 
at  Valcavado.  Of  the  two  primitive  copies,  one  appears  to  have 
been  made  in  the  same  house  before  the  year  800,  the  other 
at  Osma  or  Uxama  in  Old  Castile,  otherwise  famous  as 
an  early  home  of  St.  Dominic. 

In  all  probability,  moreover,  the  primitive  '  Osma,'  of  about 
800,  passed  through  another  intermediate  stage,  which  has 
also  perished,  before  reaching  its  oldest  surviving  form,  in  'St. 
Sever.'  As  descendants  of  the  primitive  Valcavado  we  must 
likewise  admit  some  intermediates,  especially  (A)  one  of  about 
900,  the  source  of  ' Ashburnham,'  ' Valladolid,'  'Madrid,' 
and  '  London ' ;  and  (B)  two  of  the  tenth  century,  sources  of 
'Gerona,'  'Turin,'  and  'Paris  iii.'  (of  c.  1150),  as  well  as  of  a  lost 
copy  of  the  twelfth  century  ('  Las  Huelgas  '). 

Of  the  ten  existing  specimens  three  have  been  known  for 
some  time ;  the  remaining  seven  have  only  been  noticed  lately. 
St.  Sever,  Turin,  and  London  were  all  described  before  1850  ; 
Turin,  indeed,  as  early  as  1749 ;  the  other  two  were  dealt 
with  by  Santarem  in  1849.  For  the  first  adequate  account  of 
the  Ashburnham,  Valladolid,  Madrid,  Gerona,  Osma,  and  later 
Paris  copies  we  have  to  thank  Professor  Konrad  Miller,  whose 
work  has  already  made  a  revolution  in  the  study  of  mediaeval 
maps.     See  p.  549,  n.,  of  this  vol. 

As  to  the  more  important  details  of  the  various  copies 
other  than  St.  Sever ; — 

(A)  The  Paris  of  1250  ('Paris  ii.').  In  this  Jerusalem  is 
quite  separate  from  Palestine  ;  and  on  the  eastern  rim  of  its 
world  occur  Armenia,  Arabia,  Greece,  and  Pandemia  (Pannonia). 


592  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

Paradise,  originally  at  the  top  because  that  was  the  Eastern 
quarter,  has  been  left  in  the  same  position  when  a  Southern 
interpretation  has  been  given  to  it,  although  the  Christian 
Eden  is  never  conceived  as  being  in  the  South  (cf.  Genesis 
ii.  8).  This  map  forms  a  link  between  St.  Sever  and  Osma, 
but  is  not  derived  from  either.  In  its  external  form  and 
colouring  it  recalls  St.  Sever ;  but,  for  instance,  the  red 
striped  bands  on  a  yellow  ground  which  in  the  Aquitanian 
copy  designate  North  and  South,  have  lost  their  meaning  in 
the  Paris  example,  remaining  only  as  ornaments ;  while  the 
Red  Sea  has  retained  its  form  and  colour,  though  its  direction 
has  been  changed.  The  town-pictures,  especially  in  Crete  and 
Cyprus,  also  resemble  St.  Sever,  and  these  and  other  features 
support  the  belief  that  the  original  work  of  Beatus  is  best 
represented  in  the  French  copy  of  the  eleventh  century.  From 
the  size  and  prominence  of  Astorga  in  Spain,  encircled  with  a 
brown  and  yellow  band,  we  may  suppose  this  was  the  place  of 
draughtsmanship.  [Original  in  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  MSS.  Lat.,  nouv. 
acq.,  1366  ;  the  page  measures  350  by  230  millimetres.] 

(B)  The  Osma  of  1203,  first  published  by  K.  Miller,  may 
be  called  a  more  distant  relative  of  St.  Sever,  which  it  almost 
equals  in  value  and  with  which  it  has  common  ground  in  its 
general  delineation  of  lands,  rivers,  and  seas.  It  represents 
Paradise  simply  by  the  springs  of  the  Four  Sacred  Rivers.  Osma 
or  Uxama  is  56  kilometres  to  the  south-west  of  Soria,  in  the 
upper  valley  of  the  Douro.  It  was  an  ancient  stronghold  of 
Sertorius,  and  St.  Dominic  was  once  a  canon  of  the  Church. 
The  manuscript  measures  38  by  30  centimetres. 

(C)  The  Valeavado  or  Aslibarnliam  map,  of  about  970, 
was  also  first  published  by  K.  Miller.  It  is,  perhaps,  one  of 
two  copies  made  about  this  time  from  two  earlier  and  slightly 
different  transcripts  of  the  Beatus  original.  The  present 
example  was  drawn  and  written  in  Valeavado  by  Obeco,  under 
Abbot  Sempronius,  between  the  8th  of  June,  and  the  8th  of 
September  in  one  year ;  the  lost  contemporary  was  made  at 
Tabara  by  Emeterius,  between  the  1st  of  May  and  the  27th 
of  July  in  a  single  summer.  In  the  Valeavado  of  Obeco,  the 
later  Ashburnham,  a  very  inferior  intermediate  has  been  used, 
and  the  new  reproduction  has  made  things  worse.  Most  rivers 
have  been  left  out,  and  the  only  two  that  appear,  the  Nile 
and  the  Danube,  are  represented  like  inland  seas.  Of  the 
town-pictures  of  the  original  only  Jerusalem  remains.  The 
canoes  and  fishes  swimming  in  the  encircling  ocean  are  care- 
fully preserved,  like  the  mountains,  though  the  latter  are 
conventionalised.     The   chief  peculiarity    of   this    copy    is    its 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  593 

absolutely  right-angled  form  ;  other  copies  approach,  but  none 
equal,  it  in  this  respect.  The  West-Gothic  character  of  the 
Ashburnham  script  is  also  found  in  the  next  three  copies, 
'Valladolid,'  'Madrid,5  and  'London'— (Brit.  Mus.  of  1109)— 
all  of  which  may  be  treated  as  in  part  derivatives  from  the  tran- 
script of  Obeco.  This  example  is,  however,  too  faded  and 
damaged  for  us  to  estimate  its  value  fully.  [Ashburnham 
MSS.,  XV  ;  the  page  measures  38  by  28  centimetres.] 

(D)  The  Valladolid  copy  of  1035  is  in  various  ways  less 
complete  than  Ashburnham.  For  instance,  it  has  not  the  two 
trees  (?)  given  by  the  latter  in  Asia,  the  similar  tree  in  Ethiopia, 
the  names  of  the  three  Continents,  or  Paradise.  On  the  other 
hand,  like  the  two  next  copies,  it  gives  us  the  Pyrenees,  which 
are  wanting  in  Ashburnham  ;  and  it  returns  to  the  original  oval 
form,  in  preference  to  the  right-angled.  Ashburnham,  Madrid, 
and  London  portray  woods  upon  the  mountains ;  Valladolid 
only  ornaments  upon  the  hill-ranges.  But,  like  Ashburnham, 
Valladolid  marks  the  Province -boundaries  of  Africa  by  ornamental 
trees.  [Original  in  Valladolid  University  Library,  MS.  229, 
parchment ;  the  page  measures  335  by  225  millimetres.] 

(E)  The  Madrid  [Nat.  Libr.  ;  measures  47  by  31  centi- 
metres] is  simply  a  copy  of  the  Valladolid,  with  a  few  different 
readings  ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of — 

(F)  The    London    ox    so-called    '  Spanish- Arabic '    of    1109 
[Brit,  Mus.,  Add.  MSS.   11695;    measures  37.5  by  24.4  centi 
metres],    which   is,  however,    the   best   preserved  of  all   Beatus 
maps,  and  shows  some  signs  of  copying  both  from  Ashburnham 
and  Valladolid. 

The  remaining  copies  all  belong  to  the  Tabara,  or  Emeterius, 
subdivision.  There  are  apparently  two  lost  intermediates  of  this 
stem ;  one  already  noticed,  finished  by  Emeterius  on  the  27th 
July,  970,  was  the  same  as  a  work  begun  by  Magius  in  968. 
A  twelfth-century  copy  of  this  existed  till  1869  at  the  Mon- 
astery of  Las  Huelgas.  The  other  Emeterius  copy  seems  to 
have  been  made  in  975  or  978,  one  Senior  writing  the  script,  and 
Emeterius  painting  in  the  design,  both  working  under  a  certain 
Abbot  Dominic  lis.  The  work  of  Emeterius,  in  these  copies,  was 
probably  better  than  that  of  Obeco  in  his,  just  as  the  Gerona 
and  twelfth- century  Paris  are  superior  to  the  Ashburnham  and 
Valladolid. 

(G)  The  Gerona  copy,  of  about  1400,  has  preserved  the 
original  oblong  oval,  as  well  as  the  boats  and  fishes  in  the  ocean  ; 
[it  measures  36  by  52  centimetres]. 

(H)  The  famous  Turin  of  the  twelfth  century  [Turin  Libr* 
MS.  I.,  ii.   1  ;  measures  39  by  27.5  centimetres],  once  supposed 

2  p 


594  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

to  be  a  mediaeval  design  of  the  first  importance,  is  thought 
by  Miller  to  be  a  derivative  of  Gerona.  It  leaves  out  the  boats 
and  fishes,  and  has  some  gross  mis-readings.  In  the  text  of 
this  manuscript  (viz.  The  Apocalypse  Commentary,  folios  45,  46), 
though  not  in  the  map,  stress  is  laid  on  the  twelve  Apostles. 

(I)  The  Paris  of  the  twelfth  century,  'Paris  iii.',  a  direct 
copy  from  Emeterius,  shares  with  Turin  the  peculiarity  of  a 
circular  shape.  Though  much  mutilated,  its  town-pictures  are 
striking,  and  far  excel  anything  in  this  line  from  the  other 
Beatus  Maps.  But  to  the  copyist  the  pictorial  part  was 
evidently  more  important  than  the  geography,  and  the  text 
is  very  imperfect  and  disfigured.  The  Mediterranean  cuts  the 
earth  in  two  halves ;  the  Mediterranean  Islands  are  put  in 
the  ocean.  The  longer  inscriptions  of  the  original  are  all 
omitted  ;  but  three  new  names  are  given  us,  '  Anglia,'  'Irlanda,' 
and  '  Sevilia,''  and  two  names,  'Maiorga'  and  'Toletum,'  otherwise 
missing  from  all  the  Valcavado  copies.  [In  Paris,  Bib.  Nat., 
MSS.  Lat.,  nouv.  acq.,  2290 ;  measures  450  by  310  millimetres.] 

The  value  of  these  designs  lies  chiefly  in  their  high  antiquity. 
Four  of  them  certainly  belong  to  the  pre-Crusading  Period, 
namely,  St.  Sever,  Ashburnham,  Valladolid,  and  Madrid ;  and 
both  from  their  age  and  size,  these  plans  are  well  worthy  of 
notice.  "We  have  scarcely  anything  from  Latin  Christian 
cartography  of  so  early  a  date ;  and  the  few  specimens  which 
carry  us  back  to  a  still  older  time  are  much  slighter 
sketches,  such  as  the  Albi  map  of  the  eighth  century. 
From  the  close  similarity '  between  all  members  of  the  Beatus 
family,  we  may  be  pretty  certain  of  the  character,  not  merely 
of  the  primitive  copies  or  intermediates,  but  of  the  original 
itself,  as  drawn  by  the  'obscure  hill-man  and  cave-dweller'  in 
about  776. 

The  map  of  St.  Sever  is,  except  for  the  Valcavado-Ash- 
burnham  of  970,  the  oldest  of  our  surviving  examples  ;  the 
Valcavado-stem  copies  for  the  most  part  show  us  a  slighter  and 
more  inaccurate  type  of  sketch  than,  those  of  the  Osma  family, 
lacking  the  all-important  Apostolic  pictures  and  various  other 
primitive  features. 

Of  the  ten  Beatus  copies,  seven  are  oval,  somewhat  inclining 
to  the  oblong ;  the  oldest  one  (Ashburnham)  is  right-angled ; 
two  of  the  latest  (Turin  and  'Paris  iii.')  are  circular.  What 
was  the  original  form  ?  This  question  can  only  lie  answered  by 
remembering  the  conditions  under  which  it  was  drawn. 

All  the  copies  before  us  are  drawn  on  two  pages ;  each  page 
gives  half  the  map,  or  half  the  world ;  and  perhaps  the  oblong 


APPENDIX    ON    INI  APS  595 

so  often  to  be  noticed  is  cine  to  the  copyist  lengthening  two  halves 
of  a  circle  to  nil  up  his  space  and  give  his  work  mure  room.  The 
height  of  the  map  is,  of  course,  the  height  of  the  manuscript  in 
all  instances,  thus  supporting  the  theory  that  the  elliptical  form 
was  accidental.  The  comparatively  short,  upright  axis,  from 
top  to  bottom  of  the  single  page,  represents  the  Longitude,  or 
East  to  West  prolongation,  of  the  earth ;  while  the  breadth,  the 
comparative!}7  long  horizontal  axis  reaching  across  the  two  pages, 
represents  the  Latitude,  or  North  to  South  extension,  of  the 
world.  But  neither  in  classical  antiquity,  nor  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  do  we  meet  with  any  geographer  who  believes  the  lati- 
tudinal extension  of  the  Oikoumene  to  be  greater  than  the 
longitudinal.  If  so,  the  very  terms  of  '  latitude '  and  '  longitude  : 
themselves  would  have  been  disputed  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they 
were  always  accepted.  Hence  it  will  not  do  to  use  the  Beatus 
maps  as  a  proof  that  the  ancient  Orbes  pieti,  and  especially  the 
world-map  of  Agrippa,  were  oblong  or  elliptical. 

It  is  probable  that  on  the  original  Beatus  both  the  Four 
Sacred  Rivers  and  the  Ancestors  of  Mankind  were  depicted,  as 
on  the  Hereford  and  Ebstorf  maps  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
The  rivers  of  Paradise  come  from  Genesis  ii.  11-14.  The  first 
three  are  usually  identified  with  the  Indus  or  Ganges,  the  Nile, 
and  the  Tigris.  We  have  already  described  at  some  length  in 
Dawn  of  Modern  Geography,  i.,  pp.  332-334,  385-386,  391,  the 
patristic  and  mediaeval  views  on  the  inaccessibility  of  the 
earthly  Paradise  [cf.  also  Midler,  Geographi  graeci  minores,  ii., 
513-514  ;  the  Ptavennese  Geographer,  Isidore,  and  Cosmas  ;  and 
the  Expositio  totius  mundi  in  the  version  of  Junior  Philosophus, 
c.  a.d.  350].  In  the  Beatus  maps  there  is  no  clear  evidence 
of  a  T-0  design  ;  the  horizontal  line  dividing  Europe  and  Asia 
is  pushed  up  towards  the  top,  and  thus  deflected  from  the  actual 
middle  ;  only  the  Osma  map  is  here  an  exception.  Whether 
this  deflection  is  intentional  or  not  is  doubtful.  The  X  pattern 
is  prominent  in  mediaeval  cartography  for  ages,  from  the  time 
of  St.  Augustine  and  Orosius  ;  it  is  certainly  not,  however,  the 
usual  type  of  later  classical  map. 

Beatus  seems  to  have  followed  Isidore  in  limiting-  Africa  to 
this  side  of  the  Equator,  like  many  of  the  classical  geographers, 
Cicero,  Pliny,  Mela,  etc.  [cf.  Cicero,  Tusc,  i.  28  ;  Pliny,  vi.  22 ; 
Mela,  i.  1  ;  Solinus,  liii.,  1  ;  Isidore,  Orig.,  xiv.  5,  17].  All  the 
copies,  except  the  Paris  of  1250,  mark  the  'Antipod'  region,  and 
even  'Paris  ii.'  gives  us  a  relic  of  the  Australian  Continent  by 
indicating  in  a  corner  the  Skiapod  or  shadow-footed  monster 
whom  the  Osma  Map  of  1203  shows  us  in  the  Southern  Land; 
this  last  was  doubtless  the  original  position. 


596  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

The  map  of  St.  Sever  evidently  confuses  Taprobane  with  the 
real  Antipodean  Land  of  some  ancient  geographers,  and  here  are 
uncritically  mingled  ancient  traditions  of  Ceylon,  Sumatra,  and 
other  islands  off  the  South  of  Asia  [cf.  the  language  of  Pliny 
and  Solinus  on  Taprobane,  often  ami  for  long  time  supposed  to  he  the 
other  Hemisphere  or  Land  of  the  Ant icht hones.  P.  Mela  also  speaks 
of  the  Antipodean  Antichthones  ;  cf.  the  map  of  Lambert  of  St. 
Omer,  in  the  Paris  and  Wolfenbiittel  copies]. 

The  scientific  champions  of  the  Antipodean  theory  were 
usually  Greeks,  and  always  men  who  believed  in  the  globular 
conception  of  the  earth,  like  the  Pythagoreans,  Eratosthenes, 
Posidonius,  M.  Capella,  Krates,  etc.  The  doctors  of  the  Church, 
such  as  Augustine  and  Isidore,  who  construct  their  system  of 
geography  after  an  exclusively  Latin  model,  either  avoid  any 
acknowledgment  of  this  globular  conception  (and  its  possible 
corollary  of  'feet  to  feet'  Antichthones),  or,  as  in  the  case  of 
Laetantius,  absolutely  reject  such  ideas  as  impious  and  absurd. 
Of  Antipodean  peoples  in  the  sense  of  inhabitants — monstrous, 
however,  rather  than  human — of  a  Southern  temperate  zone,  there 
was  greater  tolerance  ;  and  it  is  this  conception  which  is  embodied 
in  the  shadow-footed  race  of  Osma  and  '  Paris  ii.' 

As  to  the  circumambient  fish  and  boats  :  the  fish  occur  in 
every  example  except  the  Turin  map ;  the  boats  are  found  on 
St.  Sever,  Ashburnham,  Valladolid,  Gerona,  and  the  Paris  of  the 
twelfth  century  ('Paris  iii.'). 

In  the  original  Beatus,  as  in  most  mediaeval  maps,  the 
lied  Sea  appears  to  have  been  coloured  according  to  the  name ; 
but  in  the  Paris  of  1250,  Valladolid,  and  Ashburnham,  this  tint  is 
confined  in  a  more  modern  sense  to  the  Arabian  and  Persian  Gulfs ; 
both  these  gulfs,  on  the  Ashburnham  and  Valladolid  examples, 
are  depicted,  rather  like  mountains  than  seas,  in  red  colour ;  in 
the  Madrid,  only  the  Arabian  Gulf  is  still  red ;  in  the  London 
the  mountainous  appearance  is  still  more  striking ;  in  the 
Gerona,  Turin,  and  twelfth-century  Paris,  both  gulfs  are  tinted 
with  the  ordinary  hue  of  the  sea.  On  every  Beatus  map 
K.  Miller  recognises  a  trace  of  the  original  legends  in  this 
part. 

The  Black  Sea,  the  Sea  of  Azov,  and  the  Caspian  occur  on 
St.  Sever  and  on  Osma,  but  are  wanting  in  all  maps  of  the 
Valcavado  group.  The  mutilated  Mediterannean  is  no  better 
than  on  other  works  of  the  earlier  Middle  Ages. 

Only  on  our  two  best  examples,  St.  Sever  and  Osma,  do  we 
meet  with  mountains,  namely  the  Pyrenees,  Alps,  Riphaean 
Hills,  Caucasus  or  Taurus,  Sinai,  and  Atlas.  The  maps 
of  the    Valcavado    Group    mark    more    clearly    the   Pillars   of 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  597 

Hercules — with  the  two  peals  opposite  to  one  another  [Alpes  in 
Madrid  and  London,  Cat  pes  in  Ashburnham  and  Valladolid ;  i.e. 
apparently  Calpe  and  Abyla],  which  play  so  great  a  part  in 
classical  geography,  and  here  are  both  placed  in  Africa.  Osma 
marks  four  African  Alps,  two  on  the  south  coast,  two  towards 
the  west  [Alpes  duo  as  one  mountain,  and  Atlas  as  the  other]. 

The  rivers  of  the  world  are  best  portrayed  on  our  best 
copies  (St.  Sever  and  Osma) ;  on  our  other  examples,  and 
especially  on  the  Paris  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  representa- 
tion of  streams  may  sometimes  be  used  for  restoring  the  probable 
contents  of  the  original  Beatus,  which  apparently  contained  no 
Spanish  rivers,  but  marked  the  Rhine,  the  Rhone,  the  Danube, 
the  Euphrates,  the  Tigris,  the  Jordan,  the  Nile  with  its  delta, 
and  certain  affluents  of  the  Caspian. 

As  to  towns,  the  Paris  of  1150  shows  unquestionable 
developments  on  the  original  Beatus  type,  giving  us  vignettes 
of  Constantinople,  Chalcedon,  Ascalon,  Toledo,  Rome,  Thes- 
salonica,  Babylon,  Antioch,  Toulouse,  and  Tangier  or  '  Tingi.' 
All  the  great  islands  are  illustrated  with  a  battlemented  town, 
like  several  continental  countries  and  regions,  to  which  no  city- 
name  is  attached ; — e.g.  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  Sardinia, 
Sicily,  Judaea,  Pamphylia,  Cappadocia,  and  Phrygia  ('Frigida'). 
The  original  Beatus,  probably  marked  four  cities  with  pictures 
(viz.  Rome,  Antioch,  Constantinople,  and  Jerusalem),  to  saj^ 
nothing  of  the  lighthouse-towers  at  Alexandria  and  Brigantia. 

In  St.  Sever,  as  elsewhere,  we  must  distinguish  the  additions 
of  the  copyists  from  the  original  plan ;  and  to  this  original 
plan  we  may  fairly  assign  everything  that  is  common  to  the  two 
chief  families  of  the  Beatus  Group,  to  Osma  and  to  Valcavado. 
Where  all  the  chief  copies  agree,  we  may  suppose  that  we  are 
dealing  with  material  from  this  original.  Happily,  the  coinci- 
dences between  all  the  ten  derivatives  are  so  numerous  that 
we  can  from  these  alone  form  a  pretty  detailed  picture  of  the 
fundamental  draught. 

As  to  interpolations  ; — In  St.  Sever,  the  Eerfesia  S.  Severi  in 
the  south-west  of  France  is  of  course  a  prominent  addition, 
being  indeed  the  largest  single  picture  in  the  map.  Several 
other  peculiar  place-names  occur  in  the  same  part  of  the  world ; 
but  these  additions  have  been  to  the  detriment  of  other  regions, 
e.g.  the  North- West,  or  Galician,  corner  of  Spain,  and  South  Italy. 
The  place-names  between  the  Maeotis  or  Sea  of  Azov  and  the 
Hellespont  or  Dardanelles  are  pushed  rather  to  one  side,  towards 
the  right  of  the  map  ;  and  there  are  several  dislocations  in  or 
near  the  Bosphorus,  Propontis,  Hellespont,  and  JEgaean.     Similar 


598  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

displacements  occur  in  parts,  and  especially  in  certain  rivers, 
of  Western  Asia  Minor,  a  region  where  St.  Sever  is  inferior 
to  Osma.  Some  critics  have  thought  that  the  longer  legends 
on  the  St.  Sever  example  may  be  later  additions,  but  this  does 
not  seem  to  be  the  case.  The  inscriptions  on  the  Nile,  Ethiopia, 
the  Southern  or  Australian  Continent,  and  Taprobane,  are  pro- 
bably in  accord  with  the  original ;  and  as  to  the  rest  of  these 
elaborate  legends,  a  great  portion  may  be  assigned  to  the  same 
source. 

On  Osma,  as  on  Ashburnham,  Valladolid,  Madrid,  London, 
and  'Paris  ii.',  there  is  very  little  that  can  be  regarded  as  inter- 
polation, though  the  displacements  and  dislocations  due  to 
inferior  draughtsmanship  are  more  prominent  than  on  the  Map 
of  St.  Sever.  On  Osma  Troja  is  perhaps  an  addition,  like  Aljpps 
Galliarum  in  the  four  first  examples  of  the  Valcavado  family. 
On  the  London  map  of  1109  (here  in  contrast  with  St.  Sever), 
Scocia  is  given  as  a  separate  isle  from  Brittannia  and  to  the 
South  of  the  latter.  St.  Sever  also  marks  Britter.  Ins.  as  well 
as  Brittannia,  while  Osma  puts  Scocia  inferior  on  the  mainland, 
E.-N.-E.  of  Ger mania  superior.  But  this  is  rather  a  dislocation 
than  an  interpolation. 

On  the  last  three  of  our  examples,  viz.  on  Gerona,  Turin,  and 
Paris  iii.,  Seville,  the  Sea  of  St.  George,  and  St.  James  of 
Compost ell 'a  are  certainly  additions  of  a  time  later  than  Beatus ; 
the  position  of  St.  James  in  Galicia  is  also  to  be  found  in  the 
Osma  copy  of  1203.  Paris  ii.  also  appears  to  interpolate  Astorga, 
Sol  et  Lima,  Mare  Magnum  (in  the  four  corners),  Mare  Rubrum 
(turned  into  the  Arabian  Gulf),  Fines  Romanorum  .  .  .  Francorum. 
Here  the  Franks  appear  on  the  left  bank  of  the  PJiine,  not 
on  the  right  or  east,  as  in  St.  Sever. 

As  to  Beatus'  chief  sources ; — With  St.  Jerome  and  Orosius 
there  is  no  direct  correspondence,  though  the  indirect  relation  is 
uncpiestionable.  The  rediscovery  of  Isidore's  lost  World-Map 
would  perhaps  show  us  the  immediate  inspiration  of  the  work 
of  776.  Beatus  apparently  copies  four  long  legends  of  one 
class  and  eight  of  another,  from  Isidore  verbatim.  The  four 
in  Ojiiestion  are  upon  Armenia,  Scythia  Major,  Albania,  and 
Hyrcania  ;  while  the  eight  are  on  India,  Mesopotamia,  Babylonia, 
Arabia,  Taprobane,  Nabatea,  the  Skiapodes,  and  the  Quarta  Pars 
trans  Oceanum.  Beatus'  legend  about  the  Nile  is  not  from 
Isidore,  in  so  many  words,  but  from  Orosius  ;  it  is,  however, 
of  a  nature  common  to  all  the  later  classical  geographers,  and 
is  possibly  connected  with  an  ancient  map.  No  definite 
reference  occurs  in  Beatus  either   to   Solinus  or  to  Augustine, 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  599 

although  three  passages,  which  are  copied  verbatim  from 
Isidore,  are  to  some  extent  paralleled  in  the  Dc  Civitate  Dei, 
viz.  on  the  Skiapodes,  the  Antipodes,  and  the  Springs 
among  the  Garamantes. 

South  France  and  Middle  Italy  offer  certain  other  matters  of 
remark,  e.g.  the  reference  to  the  name  and  the  sixth-century 
migration  of  the  Basques  from  the  Pyrenees  into  the  Lowlands,  as 
far  as  the  Garonne ;  the  names  of  Septimania  and  Provence ; 
the  Lombard  Duchies  of  Spoleto  and  Beneventum  ;  the  general 
correspondence  of  Beatus'  Italy  with  the  known  history  of 
the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries ;  and  the  contrast  here  shown 
with  the  Anonymous  Geographer  of  Ravenna.  Beatus'  Vasconia 
(between  the  Pyrenees  and  the  Garonne)  agrees  with  the  Roman 
Province  of  Novempopulana  or  with  the  Anonymous  Geographer  of 
Ravenna's  Spano-Guasconia,  but  not  with  the  latter's  Guasconia, 
which  is  first  marked  out  by  Gregory  of  Tours  (c.  a.d.  581).  The 
migration  of  the  Basques  here  noticed  was  about  587.  The 
name  of  Septimania  first  appears  (c.  a.d.  473)  in  Sidonius 
Apollinaris,  for  the  "West  Gothic  Lands ; — viz. ;  Narbonne, 
Carcassonne,  Toulouse,  and  the  country  to  the  Rhone,  otherwise 
the  coast  region  of  Narbonnensis  Prima.  Beatus'  Provincia 
is  the  south  part  of  the  Viennensis,  as  in  Gregory  of 
Tours. 

A  few  minor  points  may  be  noticed  separately,  especially  as 
to  the  sources  of  various  details. 

The  points  of  the  compass  are  only  to  be  found  in  the  St. 
Sever  and  the  Paris  of  1250  ;  the  Wind-rose,  so  frequent  in  the 
larger  mediaeval  maps  of  later  time,  only  occurs  in  St.  Sever. 
The  classical  world  used  two  kinds  of  Wind-rose  ;  one  of  these 
was  eight-fold,  the  other  twelve-fold.  Both  of  course  were  based 
upon  the  four  cardinal  compass  points.  In  the  twelve -fold 
division,  which  was  the  favourite  one  among  Greek  scientists 
from  the  time  of  Aristotle,  a  classification  of  seven  intermediate 
winds  played  a  part.  It  is  this  twelve-fold  division  which  is 
also  to  be  found  in  Isidore,  on  the  map  of  St.  Sever,  and  in  most 
of  the  circular  designs  of  the  later  Middle  Age.  The  eight-fold 
arrangement  was  derived  from  Eratosthenes,  and  was  accepted 
by  PHny,  by  Orosius,  and  by  Isidore  of  Seville,  as  a  complement 
to  the  twelve-fold  partition. 

An  important  feature  on  several  of  the  Beatus  maps  (though 
not  on  St.  Sever)  is  the  Faro,  Pharos,  or  Lighthouse,  on  the 
coast  of  Spain,  which  in  several  cases  is  accompanied  by  a 
vignette  or  picture  of  the  same.  This  is  certainly  the  classical 
beacon  of  Brigantia  in  Galicia,  described  by  Orosius  as  looking 
over   towards    Britain    [cf.    Orosius,  History,  ch.   33,   Brigantia 


600  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

Gallaeciae   civitas  altissimam   Farum  et  inter  pauca   memorandi 
opens  ad  speculum  Britanniae  erigit]. 

The  '  Oscorus '  River  in  Asia  is  certainly  meant  for  the  Oxus, 
and  this  reading  gives  us  perhaps  an  independent  form  of  the 
classical  name.     The  two  sources  of  the  Jordan  are  in  the  ordi- 
nary mediaeval  manner,  but   especially  recall  the  language   of 
Isidore  and  Eusebius  [cf.  Isidore,  Mymol.,  xiii.  21,  20 ;  Eusebius, 
Onomasticon.   169,    1-7].      The   fountain,   cold  by  day  and  hot 
by  night,  in  the  Land  of  the  Garamantes  in  North  Africa,  and 
the  vast  salt  marshes  in  the  same  region,  are  perhaps  from  Pliny ; 
the    '  tawny  race  who  eat  no   bread '  are   otherwise   unknown, 
though  the  idea  may  be  borrowed  from  the  '  Wild- '  or  '  Wolfish- 
eaters '    of  Solinus  [cf.  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.,  v.  36;    Solinus,  144; 
Augustine,  De  Civ.  Dei,  xxi.   5  ;  Isidore,   Etymol.,   xiii.   13,    10. 
The  salt-marshes  are  referred  to  in   Dicuil,    8,    7,    1,    who  says 
that   he   had    read    about    them    in  a    'cosmography'].      The 
Lighthouse  at  Alexandria  may  be  derived  from  various  classical 
writers   or  maps,    but   among   existing   sources,    the    Peutinger 
Table  is  perhaps  the   nearest  parallel,  nearer   even   than   those 
in   Ammianus   Marcellinus  and  the   second  map  of  St.  Jerome 
[cf.  Tab.  Peut.,  ix.  3].     Of  course   Beatus  must   be   understood 
to  use  or  consult,  not  the  Tab.  Peut.  in  the  stage  we  have  it  (of  a 
thirteenth-century  copy),  but  in  an  earlier  form,  or  in  a  parallel 
example   of    the   Roman   Imperial   cartography.      In   the   Tab. 
Peut.   we  are  dealing  with  the  only  important  survival  of  the 
cartography   in   cpuestion,  and   it   must  therefore  stand   for   the 
whole  class  of  Roman  itinerary-maps  from  the  time   of  Julius 
Caesar.     The  inscription  at  the  mouths  of  the  Nile  (describing 
the  course   of  the   Great   River)   and   that    which    deals    with 
the   nomade  Gaetulians   are   again  parallel  to  the   language  of 
the  Peutinger  Table  and  to  Orosius  ;  the  two  Alps  (or  '  Calpes ') 
of    West    Africa,    already   noticed,    are    perhaps   likewise   from 
Orosius  ;  while  the   picture   and  description  of  the   Australian 
or  Antipodean  Land  recalls  the  language  of  Isidore  and  Augus- 
tine  [cf.   Tab.  Peut.,  vii.   2,  viii.  5,    ix.  3  ;  Orosius,  Hist.,  chs. 
12,  47  ;    Isidore,  Etymol.,  xiv.   5,    17  ;  Augustine,  Be  Civ.  Dei, 
xvi.  9-18]. 

As  to  the  old  Roman  Province-map  from  which  Beatus  seems 
to  have  drawn  so  largely,  a  similar  original  was  doubtless  before 
Isidore,  Orosius,  and  Julius  Honorius,  who  have  given  us  short 
extracts  therefrom.  The  same  map  or  maps  served  the  Anony- 
mous Geographer  of  Ravenna  in  good  stead  ;  while  the  Peutinger 
Table  is,  of  course,  a  later  form  of  the  very  same  classical  carto- 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  601 

graphy  applied  to   a   special   purpose,  the   Government  of  the 
Roman  Empire. 

Some  have  thought  that  Beatus  used  a  map-design  by 
Orosius,  now  lost ;  the  existence  of  such  a  work  is  inferred 
from  various  points  in  the  Cotton  or  Anglo-Saxon  map,  in  the 
map  of  Henry  of  Mainz,  and  in  that  of  Hereford;  But  a  com- 
parison shows  certain  differences  which  support  the  belief  that 
Beatus  could  not  have  used  a  map  which  was  simply  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  Orosian  text.  Thus  the  Asiatic  ScytMa,  and  the  lands 
east  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  as  Beatus  gives  them,  differ  greatly 
from  Orosius  and  the  Orosians  (e.f/.  Henry  of  Mainz,  and  the 
so-called  Richard  of  Haldingham),  and  agree  much  more  nearly 
with  Isidore,  the  Ravennese  Geographer,  and  the  Peutinger 
Table. 

Some  of  the  names  which  we  find  in  Beatus'  Syria  and  Asia 
Minor  (e.g.  Laodicea,  Philadelphia,  Thyatira),  occur  here  for  the 
last  time  in  mediaeval  cartography,  and  point  strongly  to  an 
archaeological  use  of  such  classical  place-names  as  may  be 
found  in  the  Table.  The  so-called  Jerome  maps,  we  may  notice, 
show  the  same  tendencies  and  survivals.  In  the  East  two 
Indian  towns  (Elimaida,  Antiochia-Tarmata)  are  put  in  the 
exact  positions  given  by  the  Table,  and  are  named  by  no  writer 
of  later  date,  except  the  Ravennese,  who  is  himself,  of  course, 
strongly  Peutingerian.  There  is  an  odd  contrast  between  Britain 
and  Gaul,  as  treated  by  Beatus.  The  first-named,  correspond- 
ing (for  the  most  part)  to  the  lost  western  section  of  the  Table, 
is  thoroughly  antique  in  character ;  and  its  five  towns,  all  marked 
by  small  pictures,  agree  with  the  chief  British  cities  in 
'Castorius,'  as  quoted  by  the  Ravennese — 'Castorius'  being 
probably  an  older  form  of  the  Peutinger  Table,  as  known  in 
the  seventh  century.  On  the  other  hand,  Beatus'  Gallic 
towns  have  very  different  names  from  Peutinger' s ;  the  latter 
are  the  old  city-names  of  the  Empire ;  while  Beatus,  for  the  most 
part,  gives  only  the  more  modern  cantonal  or  tribal  names  which 
by  the  second  half  of  the  fourth  century  became  attached  to 
the  towns  of  Gaul.  These  modern  names  are  often  given  by 
the  Tab.  Pent,  along  with  the  ancient. 

Two  other  correspondences  of  less  extent  and  moment  have 
been  inferred — with  Ptolemy  and  with  Julius  Honorius.  The 
former  depends  upon  one  race-name  otherwise  unknown  (the 
Macusienses)  and  various  names  of  seas  which  Isidore,  Orosius, 
and  Mela  also  copied  from  the  Geographer  of  Alexandria.  The 
latter  rests  on  a  single  curious  misreading  in  the  name  of  a 
Syrian  river  [Orestes  for  Orontes].  But  we  must  not  suppose 
that  Beatus  made  use  of  a* lame  number  of  ancient  sources. 


602  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

The  text  of  some  of  the  longer  legends  gives  a  fairly  good 
idea  of  the  mental  outlook  of  Beatns  and  his  copyists.     Thus,  e.g. 
Albania,  so  called  from  the  whiteness  of  its  people,  and  the  colour 
of  their  hair,  extended  from  the  East,  close  by  the  Caspian  Sea, 
and  the  shore  of  the  Northern  Ocean  (into  which  the  Caspian 
was  believed  to  flow)  to  the  Maeotid  Lakes  (Sea  of  Azov),  through 
desert  regions  where  the  dogs  were  so  strong  and  fierce  that  they 
could  take  lions  and  kill  them.     Hyrcania,  so  called  from  the 
Hyrcanian   Wood   (a   confusion   with   the    'Hercinia   Sylva'   of 
Germany)  which  lay  'under  Scythia,'  was  full  of  tigers,  panthers, 
and  pards.     Many  races  lived  here  and  in  Scythia,  among  them 
cannibals    and   blood-drinkers.      Scythia,    stretching    from    the 
extreme  East  and  the  Seric  Ocean  to  the  Caspian  Sea  (at  the 
setting   of  the  sun)  and   southward   to   the  ridge   of  Caucasus, 
abounded  in  gold  and  gems,  in  the  best  emeralds,  and  in  the 
most  pure   crystal ;   but  all  these   treasures   were  guarded  by 
Gryphons,  and   no   man   could   approach   thereunto.      Armenia, 
between   the   Taurus   and  the   Caucasus,    between    Cappadocia 
and  the  Caspian,  was  divided  into  two  parts,  the  Greater  and 
the  Less,  and  contained  the  source  of  the  Tigris.     Arabia,  the 
land  of  incense  and  perfumes,  of  myrrh  and  cinnamon,  of  the 
phoenix  and  the  sardonyx,  was  also  called  '  Saba,'  from  the  son  of 
Chus.     The  Dead  Sea,  so  named  because  it  produced    nothing 
living,  and  received  nothing  from  the  race  of  living  things,  was 
in  length  780  stadia  [or  furlongs]  and  in  breadth  150.     [This 
attempt  at  measurement  is  a  very  unusual  feature  in  mediaeval 
maps,  and  shows  a  curious,  if  unfortunate,  precision,  which  at 
any  rate,  marks  a  spirit  of  enquiry  ;  the  figures  given  are  twice 
too  great  (cf.  Isidore,  xiii.  19,  3-4).     Beatus  also  gives  measure- 
ments, in  Roman  miles,  for  the  Islands  of  Britain,  Corsica,  and 
Sardinia,  as  well  as  for  Taprobane  or  '  Tapaprona.']     India,  con- 
taining many  peoples  and  tongues,   men  of  dark  colour,  great 
elephants,  and  precious  products,  such  as  gems,  ivory,  aromatics, 
ebony,  cinnamon,  and  pepper,  was  also  famous  for  its  parrots,  its 
dragons,  and  its  one-horned  beasts  [rhinoceros].     It  was  amazingly 
fertile,  with  crops  twice  a  year ;  among  its  gems  were  diamonds, 
pearls,  burning  carbuncles,  and  beryls ;  it  also  possessed  mountains 
stored  with  gold,  and  guarded  by  dragons  and  monstrous  men. 
Among  its  islands  were  '  Chryse'  and  '  Argyre,'  the  isles  of  gold  and 
silver,  and  Taprobane,  which  lay  far  to  the  South,  was  divided 
by  a  river,  was  only  in  part  inhabited  by  men,  had  ten  cities,  and 
was  full  of  jewels  and  elephants.      Ethiopia,  stretching  to  the 
borders   of   Egypt,    abounded    in    races   of   diverse    colour   and 
monstrous  form.      It  possessed  multitudes  of  wild  beasts  and 
serpents,  precious  stones,  cinnamon,  and  balsam.     The  Nile  was 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  603 

said  by  some  authors  to  rise  far  from  Mount  Atlas,  and  thereafter 
to  he  speedily  lost  in  the  sands.  But  soon  it  emerged  from  the 
desert,  poured  itself  out  into  a  vast  lake,  and  thence  flowed  to 
the  Eastern  Ocean,  through  Ethiopia.  Here  again,  bending  to 
the  left,  it  descended  upon  Egypt.  The  Austral  Continent  was 
across  the  ocean  in  the  Far  South,  hut  was  unknown  to  the  men 
of  our  world  from  the  heat  of  the  sun.  There  lived  the  Antipods 
of  fable. 

Of  the  legends  in  the  Beatus  maps  most,  as  we  have  said, 
are  to  be  found  in  Isidore,  but  some  must  have  been  ultimately 
derived  from  far  more  ancient  map-sources.  Tims  the  notice  of 
Parthia  plainly  refers  to  a  time  before  the  Persian  revival  of  a. p. 
226;  while  the  dimensions  of  the  Dead  Sea  and  Lake  of  Gennesaret, 
in  stadia,  prove  a  considerable  antiquity,  and  perhaps  throw  us 
back  to  a  source  of  the  time  of  Pliny.  Again,  the  legends  as  to  the 
Hellespont  and  Bosphorus  correspond  in  substance  with  the  de- 
scriptions of  Pliny,  Mela,  and  Solinus  ;  and  the  measurements  of 
the  greater  Islands  (Britain,  etc.),  in  Roman  miles,  seem  to  be  a 
reminiscence  of  an  Imperial  itinerary. 

As  to  the  text  which  the  Beatus  maps  are  drawn  to  illustrate, 
Commentaria  in  Apocalypsin  is  the  title  of  the  work  in  its  various 
manuscripts,  without  any  mention  of  the  author.  Most  cata- 
logues call  it  anonymous  or  give  impossible  authorships  (e.g. 
Rhabanus  Maurus  or  Raban  Maur,  Apringius  of  Badajoz,  St. 
Amandus,  St.  Victorinus  of  Pettau.  Apringius  lived  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixth  century ;  he  is  one  of  Isidore's  viri 
illustres,  and  wrote  a  Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse  which 
begins  exactly  like  Beatus,  Biformem  divinae  legis  historiam,  etc.). 

But  Morales  (1577),  Antonio,  and  Avezac  saw  that  Beatus  was 
the  author  from  (1)  the  dedication  to  Etherius  ;  (2)  the  tradition 
of  the  Valcavado  manuscript ;  (3)  the  express  assignment  on 
folio  9  of  A^alladolid  and  Madrid  ; — Esta  otnu  es  de  Beato  solve  el 
Apocalipsi  [cf.  Avezac,  Annates  des  Voyages,  1870,  ii.  206-210  ; 
Gutierrez,  p.  20;  Antonio,  i.,  277,  on  Madrid  MS.,  Beato  Etlierii 
U.ramensis  episcopi  presbytero  tribuit  antiqua  ejusdem  in  script  io~\. 

The  Beatus  Commentary  has  only  once  been  printed — at 
Madrid  in  1770,  ed.  Florez.  Of  this  one  copy  was  used  by 
Avezac  and  Delisle  ;  another  is  in  the  British  Museum  ;  another 
is  in  Rome.  [Bib.  Casanatensis,  D.,  v.  34  in  CO.  ;  cf.  vol.  xxxiv., 
pp.  378-89,  of  Espana  sagrada ;  also  mentioned  by  Alcazar  in 
160-1  as  Commentaria  sen  Catena  Patrum  in  Apocalypsin.  It  is 
fairly  described  as  a  Catena;  for  it  names  and  quotes  from,  e.g., 
Jerome,  Augustine,  Ambrose,  Gregory,  Isidore,  Irenaeus,  Ful- 
gentius.  and  Apringius  or  '  Abrigius.'] 

The  Commentary  has  three  chief  parts  :   (I)  Introduction  ; 


604  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

(2)  Commentary  Proper;  (3)  Appendix.  (1)  gives,  with  pictures, 
the  history  of  St.  John  and  some  sacred  genealogies ;  (3)  gives 
extracts  from  Jerome,  On  Daniel,  and  from  Isidore,  Etymol.,  vi. 
xiii,  14,  6  ;  ix.  5,  6  ;  while  (2)  gives  the  Dedication  to  Etherius, 
ascribes  the  Commentary  mainly  to  the  writings  of  Augustine 
and  Jerome  (perhaps  based  on  Victorinus),  and  supplies  twelve 
books  of  comment  on  the  Revelation.  It  possesses  numerous 
miniatures  in  West-Gothic  and  semi-Byzantine  style,  e.g.  102  on 
the  292  pages  of  St.  Sever.  Among  these,  in  the  Prologue  to 
Lib.  ii.,  is  the  Map  ;  which  follows  extracts  from  Isidore,  Etymol., 
books  vii.  and  viii.,  especially  vii.  9,  1-25,  De  Apostolus;  cf.  the 
MS.  of  St.  Sever,  folios  45,  46.  Then  the  text  proceeds  :  These 
are  the  twelve  Disciples  of  Christ,  Preachers  of  the  Faith,  and 
Doctors  of  the  Nations,  Who,  though  they  are  all  One,  yet  each  of 
them  received  a  special  assignment  for  his  preaching  in  the  World, 
to  wit;  Peter,  Rome;  Andrew,  Achaia  [etc.,  as  before,  p.  551]. 
These  are  the  twelve  hours  of  the  day,  which,  are  illuminated  by 
Christ,  the  Sun;  these  are  the  twelve  Gates  of  the  Heavenly 
Jerusalem;  .  .  .  these  are  the  first  Apostolical  Church;  .  .  .  these 
are  the  twelve  Thrones  .  .  .  this  is  the  Seed  [of  the  Word]  .  .  . 
this  Church  toe  believe  and  hold  fast.  .  .  .  And,  they  will  reap 
with  their  sickles  these  grains  of  seed  throughout  the  fields  of  this 
ivorld  .  .  .  [etc.,  as  before ;  see  p.  550-1]. 

The  Divisio  Apostolorum  given  by  Beatus  is  antique  in 
character,  differs  from  some  later  arrangements,  and  preserves 
the  tradition  as  in  Isidore,  De  ortu  et  obitu  Patrum  ;  and  in 
Freculf,  Cronica,  ii.  110  (Edn.  of  1589);  Augustine,  On  Psalm 
86  ;  Pope  Gregory  L,  Evangelical  Homilies,   17. 

As  to  the  date: — On  Apoc,  viii.  Beatus  speaks  of  the  Sixth 
Age  of  the  World,  ending  in  838  of  the  Spanish  Era  (  =  A.D.  800). 
He  also  gives  the  years  from  Christ  to  the  Present.  Era,  a  computa- 
tion which  unfortunately  varies  in  the  MSS. 

The  original  text  of  this  Present  Era  seems  to  have  been  814  of 
the  Spanish  reckoning  [  =  a.d.  776] ;  this  is  the  reading  of  the  two 
manuscripts,  St.  Sever  and  St.  Millan  ii.  ['  S.  M.  de  la  Cogolla']. 
The  other  manuscript  readings,  viz.  784,  785,  786,  are  probably 
wrong ;  for  these  were  the  years  of  Beatus'  controversy  with 
Elipandus,  and  in  the  Commentary  there  is  no  reference  to  the 
Adoptionist  controversy.  On  the  other  hand,  in  Beatus'  contro- 
versial writings  there  are  many  references  to  the  Commentary. 
The  Dedication  to  Etherius  also  appears  to  belong  to  the  time 
while  Etherius  was  still  an  Abbot  and  not  a  Bishop. 

Probably  Beatus  compiled  two  chief  copies  of  his  Commen- 
tary ;  one  for  himself  and  his  monastery,  one  for  Etherius.  In 
these  two  are  the  originals  of  the  Osma  and  Valcavado  stems. 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  605 

Of   the   Commentary  there   are  fourteen  existing   manuscripts 
(ten  with  map).      Sixteen  other  manuscripts  are   recorded,  but 

now  lost ;  two  of  these  are  perhaps  still  recoverable. 

II. — The  so-called  'Jerome'  maps  [see  pp.  566-8  of  this 
volume]  are  drawn  and  written  in  a  uniform  hand,  with  initial 
letters  in  pure  Romanesque  character.  The  designs  cover  the 
whole  leaf  without  margin.  A  number  of  small,  half-obliter- 
ated marks  show  that  the  scribe  had  tried  his  hand  upon 
several  names  on  the  same  sheet  which  afterwards  bore  the  fair 
copy.  We  may  infer  that  the  mure  general  map  of  the  East, 
covering  most  of  the  Bible  Lands,  was  but  a  part  of  a  larger 
scheme,  from  the  following,  among  other,  points.  In  the  middle 
of  this  design  are  faint  traces  of  red  text,  and  in  several  places 
there  are  relics  still  discernible  of  longer  legends  {e.g.  one  of 
eight  lines  under  Constantinople) ;  while  immediately  to  the 
left  of  the  Ganges  is  a  picture  of  a  house  or  temple,  probably 
representing  a  city.  Now,  if  this  map  were  solely  a  mediaeval 
product,  and  originally  the  work  of  the  scribe  of  the  twelfth- 
century  manuscript,  which  once  belonged  to  the  Monastery  of 
St.  Martin,  at  Tournai,  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  explain 
these ;  and  still  more  to  explain  another  small  but  curious 
point.  For  the  copyist  of  the  map  of  Palestine  has  transcribed 
the  figure  LX  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Nile ;  this  number 
is  quite  meaningless  as  it  stands ;  but  it  seems  likely  that  it 
is  a  page-mark  of  an  older  manuscript  which  was  being  mechani- 
cally copied  with  the  common  mediaeval  absence  of  critical 
intelligence.  This  paging  does  not  agree  with  that  of  the 
manuscript  we  possess,  where  the  map  occurs  at  folio  64,  verso, 
and  no  leaf  has  been  inserted.  It  would  appear,  therefore,  that 
in  the  earlier  copy,  Map  No.  2  stood  on  the  right  hand,  or  on 
folio  60,  recto  ;  Map  No.  1  on  the  left,  at  folio  59,  verso. 

St.  Jerome  himself,  in  his  preface  to  the  Liber  de  Lor  is,  de- 
clares how  he  translated  in  due  order  Eusebius'  description  of  the 
Land  of  Judaea  and  of  the  City  and  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  together 
with  his  Enumeration  of  the  cities,  mountains,  villages,  rivers, 
and  other  places  mentioned  in  Scripture.  The  Church  History 
of  Eusebius  comes  down  to  a.d.  324,  and  his  geographical  works, 
which  were  '  published '  later,  were  probably  not  composed  before 
this  year.  The  Onomasticon  referred  to  by  Jerome  is  dedicated 
to  Paulinus,  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  who  died  in  324  or  325. 
Along  with  this  went  two  other  geographical  writings,  a  Book 
on  the  Names  of  Races,  and  a  Description  of  Judaea. 

Tbese  writings  of  Eusebius  perhaps  contained  several  map- 
sketches  omitted  by  later  copyists.     At  the   conclusion   of  the 


606  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

Liber  de  Locis  there  follows  in  Migne's  edition  an  explanation  of 
the  Geographica  Tabula  Palaestinae ;  .  .  .  in  hac  exstruenda  Mappa 
supplere  debui  ...  an  explanation  which  is  unintelligible  as  it 
stands,  except  as  implying  that  other  manuscripts  contained 
maps  at  this  place. 

The  connection  between  the  'Jerome'  maps  and  Bedes 
writings  appears  especially  from  the  English  scholar's  placing 
of  various  islands ;  from  his  description  of  Cilicia,  and  other 
parts  of  Asia  Minor,  such  as  Bithynia  ;  from  his  inter- 
changing of  Neapolis  in  Macedonia  with  Neapolis  in  Caria ; 
from  his  fixing  of  Lydda  on  the  coast  of  the  Great  Sea  or 
Mediterranean  ;  and  from  his  account  of  the  threefold  Ethiopia. 
We  may  compare  in  detail  the  agreements,  e.g.  of  Cos, 
(Jnidus,  and  Mitylene,  the  Insulae  contra  Asiam,  and  Samo- 
thracia  in  Carpathico  Sinu ;  of  Cilicia  as  a  Provincia  Asiae 
quam  Cygnus  amnis  intersecat,  et  Mons  Amanus,  cujus  merninit 
Salomon,  a  Ooelesyria  separat ;  of  Bithynia,  bordered  by  the 
stream  Jera  or  Hiera ;  and  of  the  Island  of  Chios  lying  over 
against  Bithynia.  The  note  upon  the  River  Cygnus  Isidore 
has  also  (xiv.  3,  45  of  Etymologies)  ;  but  the  agreement  with 
the  map  of  '  Jerome,'  including  the  form  Cygnus  for  Oydnus,  can 
hardly  be  accidental.  The  same  is  true  of  Bithynia.  As  to  the 
Neapolis  mistake,  cf.  also  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat,  iv.  42  ;  v.  107  ;  and 
Acts  xvi.  11.  On  Ethiopia,  see  Isidore,  Etymol.,  ix.  2,  128. 
The  last-named  country  Bede  and  '  Jerome '  agree  in  defining 
as  divided  into  the  lands  of  (1)  East  India,  (2)  Tripolis  and 
the  Garamante*,  and  (3)  the  Hesperian  West:  it  starts,  they 
both  declare,  from  the  River  Indus. 

As  to  the  origin  of  the  '  Jerome '  Palestine  map,  this  is  fairly 
well  established  by  its  agreement  with  the  text  of  the  Onomasti- 
con,  and  by  its  internal  indications  of  date. 

On  the  larger  design  Crete  is  coupled  with  the  Cyclades  as  the 
Seventh  Province  of  the  Greeks,  which  was  apparently  an  arrange- 
ment of  the  fourth  century,  and  perhaps  of  Constantine  the 
Great.  Again,  Emmaus,  identified  with  Nicopolis,  exactly  agrees 
with  a  definition  of  another  and  unquestionably  original  passage 
of  Jerome's.  Lastly,  the  division  of  the  Roman  Provinces  of 
Lycaonia,  Lycia,  Dardania,  Commagene,  Jsauria,  Mesopotamia 
Syriae,  and  Syria  Sobal,  as  shown  on  these  maps,  agrees  well 
with  the  known  position  of  affairs  at  the  end  of  the  fourth 
century.  Thus  Lycaonia  Avas  made  a  Province  shortby  before 
A.D.  373;  Lycia,  between  313  and  325;  Dardania  between  385 
and  400  ;  Commagene  in  297,  under  Diocletian  ;  Isauria  in  the 
fourth  century ;  Syria  Sobal  shortly  before  400.  The  identifica- 
tion of  these  names  in  every   case   with   Provinces  is   perhaps 


APrENDIX    ON    MAPS  607 

unwise.  For,  e.g.  Lyeaonia  may  be  merely  a  reference  to  Acts 
xiv.  6,  and  Mesopotamia  Syriae  to  the  story  of  Jacob  and  Laban  ; 
while  Syria  Sobal,  or  Syria  Salutaris,  recalls  Judith  iii.  1.  The 
Province  of  Isauria  is  noticed  by  Laterculus  Veronensis, 
Ammianus  Marcellinus,  and  the  Notitia  Dignitatum. 

On  the  'Jerome'  maps  the  name-forms  are  not  exclusively  those 
of  the  Onomasticon ;  for  besides  the  similarities  with  other  works 
of  Jerome  there  are  credible  resemblances  with  St.  Paula  and  St. 
Silvia  of  Aquitaine  ;  while  these  designs  also  show  certain  cor- 
respondences with  Ptolemy,  the  Peutinger  Table,  Orosius,  Mela, 
the  Alexand 'reis,  or  fabulous  History  of  Alexander,  Isidore,  Pliny, 
and  Solinus.  The  '  Jerome '  draughtsman  was  perhaps  guided  in 
his  choice  of  extracts  from  the  Natural  History  by  a  map-sketch 
of  Plinian  geography,  similar  to  that  which  Solinus  possibly 
used. 

We  may  compare  the  present  designs  with  Peutinger  for,  e.g. 
various  towns  of  Greece  and  the  Bosforani ;  with  Ptolemy  for  Oxus 
oppidum  ;  with  Orosius  for  the  Chuni  (Huns)  and  the  Bactriani ; 
with  Mela  for  the  Euri ;  with  the  Alexandreis  for  the  Arae  and 
Columnae  Alexandria  Pori  Regnum,  and  Alexandria,  Ultima,  with 
the  oracle,  etc. 

On  the  larger  'Jerome'  map  there  are  traces  of  the  old  Province 
boundaries,  e.g.  of  Isauria  (whose  Metropolis  is  given)  as  defined 
in  the  later  fourth  century  a.d.  We  may  notice  also  the  fol- 
lowing peculiarities  in  the  present  designs  : — (1)  Gog  and  Magog 
are  of  course  identified  with  the  Scythians,  but  not  (as  Ambrose 
thought)  with  the  Goths.  This  view  is  controverted  by  Jerome 
(Hebr.  Quaest.,  in  Genesim,  318  ;  10,  2),  and  in  the  map  by 
the  inscription  Goti  qui  et  Gite  (Getae).  (2)  Barbaries  here 
specially  refers  (Map  1st)  to  the  Slavs  South  of  Danube  ;  cf. 
Colossians  iii.  11.  (3)  Theodosia  here  is,  of  course,  Theodosia 
or  Kaffa  in  the  Crimea.  (4)  Acheron  on  the  Caspian  agrees 
with  iEthicus,  ch.  59  ;  it  is  mentioned  in  the  Argonautica, 
and  was  often  placed  in  Asia  Minor.  (5)  Cl'ithewn  is  a  river 
probably  identical  with  the  '  Gesclithron '  (yys  nXdOpov)  of  Pliny 
(vii.  10)  and  Solinus  (15,  20)  who  place  it  among  the  Arimas- 
pians,  connected  with  the  old  story,  found  in  so  many  forms, 
of  an  opening  into  the  under  world.  K.  Miller  suggests 
that  its  original  was  the  petroleum  springs  at  Baku.  (6) 
Albania  here  forms  the  land  on  the  northern  limit  of  the 
Oilvumenr,  as  often  in  classical  geography.  (7)  The  River 
Alanus,  close  by  the  Maeotid  Marsh,  is  not  in  any  writer 
earlier  than  Jerome,  but  the  people  of  the  Alani  are  put  in  the 
same  part  by  Ammianus  Marcellinus  and  Dionysius  Periegetes  ; 
cf.  Peutinger  Table,  ix.  3. 


608  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

Nothing  prevents  us  from  assuming  the  authorship  of  a 
draughtsman  of  St.  Jerome's  time  for  the  two  works  which  we 
have  attempted  to  describe.  No  mediaeval  writer  could  have 
compiled  designs  of  so  purely  classical  a  nature,  except  by 
simple  transcription  of  an  older  scheme ;  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  clearly  an  educated  Christian  who  has  here  added  to  the 
material  of  the  Roman  road-maps  a  certain  number  of  Scriptural 
names  and  allusions. 

III. — As  to  the  '  Cotton  '  or  '  Anglo-Saxon '  map,  we  may 
notice  that  Jerusalem  is  well  away  from  the  central  part  of  this 
stpuare  design ;  that  Taprobane  occupies  the  place  usually  given 
to  the  Terrestrial  Paradise;  that  of  the  Nile's  three  sections, 
the  uppermost  is  called  Dora ;  that  here  we  find  Gog  et  Magog 
to  the  West  of  the  Caspian,  the  Turchi  adjoining;  and  that  the 
draughtsman  places  the  Bulgari  between  the  Danube  and  the 
Arctic  Ocean.     See  pp.  559-563  of  this  vol. 

The  manuscript  which  contains  the  map  [Cotton  MSS.,  Tib. 
B.  v.]  is  made  up  of  various  pieces,  collected  by  Ptobert  Cotton 
in  1598.  The  map  is  on  folio  58,  and  is  immediately  followed 
by  a  copy  of  Priscian's  Latin  version  of  the  Periegesis  of 
Dionysius, — De  situ  terrae  Priseiani  Grammatici,  quern  de  pris- 
corum  dictis  excerpsit  Ormistarum, — written  in  the  same  hand 
as  appears  in  the  map.  The  Periegesis  is  followed  on  folios 
75-77,  by  an  Anglo-Saxon  manuscript,  of  far  older  date  than 
any  other  in  this  volume ;  and,  from  a  Donation  Formula  given 
on  folio  88,  it  is  fairly  conjectured  that  the  manuscript  (at  any 
rate  of  part  of  this  volume)  in  the  time  of  Henry  II.  belonged 
to  Battle  Abbey.  But  neither  the  Periegesis  nor  any  other 
manuscript,  as  far  as  folio  74,  is  of  later  date  than  Archbishop 
Sigeric,  whose  Itinerary  we  must  couple  with  the  Cottoniana. 
Sigeric's  predecessor  died  in  989,  Sigeric  himself  in  994.  On 
folio  20  of  this  volume  he  is  referred  to  as  'Our  Archbishop,' 
and  this  entry  (which  implies  that  he  was  still  alive)  is  in  the 
same  handwriting  as  the  Periegesis. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  handwriting  apparent  on  the  map 
is  of  the  same  date  and  authorship  as  the  folios  from  No.  88 
onwards,  which  are  perhaps  later  than  1000. 

The  handwriting  is  small  and  difficult,  with  peculiar  forma- 
tions of  various  letters  ;  e.g.  C.  written  like  P.,  O.  like  A.,  P.  like 
P.  and  A.  Cortembert's  reproduction,  made  in  1830  for  the 
Bibliotheque  Nationale  in  Paris,  is  the  best  edition  before 
K.  Miller's,  and  gives  the  most  accurate  readings  ;  Bevan  and 
Phillot,  Mediaeval  Geography,  1874,  p.  xxxiv.,  come  in  second- 
best   in   text  readings,  but  commit  more  than  forty  mistakes ; 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  609 

while  Santarem,  Essai  sur  VHistoire  de  la  CosmograpMe  .  .  .,  ii. 
47-76,  is  terribly  disappointing.  As  in  the  case  of  some  of 
the  Beatus  maps,  certain  lines  appearing  through  the  parch- 
ment from  the  text  on  the  other  side  have  given  rise  to  the 
mistaken  belief  that  the  copyist  used  some  kind  of  rude 
graduation  for  his  design.  Or  if  not  this,  these  lines  were 
perhaps,  some  have  thought,  intended  to  help  the  scribe  in 
the  more  exact  following  of  his  original,  even  if  they  were  not 
in  any  sense  a  survival  of  the  graduation-net  of  Eratosthenes. 
But  all  this  is  imaginary  [cf.  Santarem,  Recherches,  and  Atlas, 
Plate  i.  ;  Penny  Magazine,  vi.  278-280,  1837  ;  Brit.  Mus.  MS., 
Cataloyue,  11,  18-14;  Cortembert,  Trois  des  plus  arte,  monuments 
de  GeograpMe  in  Bulletin  of  Paris  Geographical  Society,  vi.  14, 
337,  etc.,  1877  ;  Jomard,  Monuments  de  Geog.,  Plate  xiii.,  1862  ; 
Walleser,  We/t-tafel  des  Ravenaten,  i.  4,  Mannheim,  1894]. 

A  great  part  of  the  names  that  are  not  from  Orosius  are  later 
additions.  For  the  most  part  the  Orosian  names  would  appear 
to  come  directly,  not  from  the  Orosian  text  as  we  have  it,  but 
from  the  lost  Orosian  map.  For  one  thing,  the  position  of 
countries  and  places  does  not  agree  in  all  respects  with  the 
Orosian  text.  Again,  the  name-forms  on  our  present  map  are 
in  many  Avays  different  from  the  Orosian  text,  but  often  remind 
us  of  the  early  World-Maps  closely  related  thereto. 

The  connection  with  Mela  appears  rather  in  the  general  idea 
of  the  Oikoumene  and  of  various  countries  than  in  the  legends 
or  place-names  in  detail.  Both  Mela  and  the  scribe  of  the 
Cotfoniana  conceive  of  the  Habitable  World  as  an  oblong.  They 
also  show  a  likeness  in  the  following  points  : — The  general  contour 
of  Spain,  Italy,  the  Gulf  of  Aquitaine,  the-  north  coast  of  Europe 
and  Asia,  the  Caspian  Sea  with  its  bays  and  islands,  the  position 
of  Britain, — just  opposite  a  great  gulf  or  indent  of  the  Continent, — 
the  Scythian  Islands,  the  Burning  Mountain  in  the  extreme 
south-east  of  Africa,  the  Promontory  of  the  Western  Horn,  with 
the  twin  Gulfs  and  the  Seven  Brother  Mountains  adjoining,  the 
two  Syrtes,  the  Peninsula  of  Tyre,  and  the  position  of  the 
Mediterranean  Islands.  Both  also  appear  greatly  to  exaggerate 
the  breadth  of  Asia  Minor.  Elsewhere  the  Cottoniana  agrees 
with  Orosius  in  opposition  to  Mela,  as  in  the  north-east  parts 
of  the  Oikoumene,  in  the  course  of  the  Nile,  and  in  the  position 
of  the  Pillars  of  Hercules. 

Some  of  the  Cotton  names  not  to  be  found  in  Orosius  occur 
in  Jerome  ; — such  are  Gog  and  Magog,  the  Ark  of  Noah,  Mount 
Sinai,  Nineveh,  the  Mountains  of  Armenia,  Galilee,  Jericho, 
Ephesus,  and  other  'Bible  places.'  But  here,  of  course,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  assume  a  direct  use  of  the  Father's  writings. 


610  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

The  Twelve  Tribes  of  Israel,  so  clearly  marked  in  our  present 
design,  do  not  occur  in  Jerome's  Palestine  map,  as  we  have  it ; 
but  they  were  possibly  transcribed  (in  the  first  instance)  from 
Eusebius,  or  directly  from  the  Old  Testament,  by  the  Doctor 
of  the  Church  of  Bethlehem,  either  in  an  earlier  form  of  the 
Palestine  map  than  that  which,  we  possess,  or  in  another  special 
map,  now  lost. 

With  Isidore  there  are  several,  not  very  peculiar,  coincidences ; 
among  these  are  the  Griphi,  Gryphons,  or  Griffins,  Pentapolis 
in  Palestine  (which  is  neither  Biblical  nor  Eusebian),  the  Seven 
Mountains  (also  in  Mela),  Tingis  or  Tangier,  Zeugis,  the  City  and 
Promontory  of  the  Hesperides,  Byzacena,  and  the  Dog-headed 
Folk.     Perhaps  the  scribe  drew  from  the  lost  Isidorian  map. 

Some  of  the  most  modern  names  in  the  Cottoniana  occur  first 
among  the  writers  of  the  next  age,  in  Adam  of  Bremen  (c.  a.d. 
1067).  Such  are  the  Turks,  the  Huns,  the  Slavs,  the  Scrito-Finns 
[Scriiefinnas,  located  in  Island],  and  the  countries  of  Iceland 
{Island),  Sleswig,  and  Norway.  Turci  are  also  in  JEthieus  of 
Istria,  and  re-appear  in  the  Ebstorf  map,  like  Island,  which  may 
also  be  found  in  Henry  of  Mainz.  The  Bulgari,  perhaps,  come 
to  the  Cotton  map  from  the  liavennese  Geographer,  and  are  found 
again  in  the  Hereford  map.  Hunnorum  gens  perhaps  refer  to  the 
Magyars  of  our  Hungary. 

With  Julius  Honorius  there  is  very  slight  connection.  The 
name  of  the  Paver  Hypauis  (which  is  also  in  Mela)  ceases  for 
many  centuries  with  Honorius,  and  is  only  revived  on  this  map. 
Also  the  cities  of  Salerno,  A^erona,  and  Tarsus  offer  a  certain 
analogy.  A  similar  likeness  with  the  Anonymous  Pvavennese 
may  be  found. 

The  Beatus  maps  contain  nearly  all  the  Orosian  names,  and 
most  of  the  non-Orosian,  which  are  to  be  found  on  the  Cottoniana. 
A  similar  resemblance  may  be  traced  between  our  present  design 
and  the  later  maps  of  Lambert  of  St.  Omer,  Ebstorf,  the  Psalter, 
and  Henry  of  Mainz. 

The  Biblical  connections,  traceable  especially  in  the  centre  of 
the  Cotton  map,  include  (directly  or  indirectly)  the  Twelve 
Tribes,  Jerusalem,  Bethlehem,  Babylon,  Tarsus,  Caesarea  Philippi, 
and  the  Ark  of  Noah  (among  the  Vignettes).  Most  of  the 
Biblical  names  of  Hereford,  Lambert,  Henry  of  Mainz,  the  Psalter. 
and  Ebstorf  are  also  to  be  found  on  the  Cotton  map,  and  are 
perhaps  in  many  cases  borrowed  directly  by  these  later  map- 
designs  from  the  earlier  '  Anglo-Saxon  '  work  [cf.  Decusa  civitas, 
near  the  Euxine,  in  Cotton,  Henry  of  Mainz,  and  Hereford].  For 
earlier  parallels,  cf.  Evilatli  in  the  Ravennese  Geographer ;  Monies 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  611 

Aurei  in  iEthicus  and  St.  Isidore  ;  and  the  Desertum  ubi  Filii 
Israel  erraverunt  xl.  annis  in  the  Peutinger  Table. 

Lastly,  there  are  several  names  and  several  features  which 
show  striking  independence  of  any  other  known  map-authority 
of  the  earlier  Middle  Age.  Among  these  are  the  five  names  in 
Britain — Camri  or  Cambria,  and  Mar  inn*  portus  in  the  north- 
west ;  Kent,  London,  and  Winchester  on  the  southern  shore 
(Kent  being  in  the  position  of  Devon) ;  and  Arama  or  Armagh 
in  Ireland ; — the  South  Bretons  (Sud-Bryttas)  in  Northern  Gaul, 
the  Golden  Mountain  of  the  Far  East,  and  the  Boreani  and 
'  abundant  lions '  of  the  north-east  of  Asia. 

The  bulbous  projection  of  land  on  the  coast  north  of 
Jerusalem  is  perhaps  meant  for  Carmel.  Some  idea  (though 
exaggerated)  of  the  Syrtes  on  the  North  African  coast  is  evi- 
dently possessed  by  the  draughtsman. 

Of  purely  inland  geography  unconnected  with  the  coast  there 
is  not  much  in  the  Europe  of  this  map  ;  cf.  the  Huns,  Dalmatia, 
Dardania,  Histria,  and  Tracia,  all  circling  round  Pannonia.  What 
is  now  European  Russia  is  contracted  to  a  mere  neck  of  laud. 

In  Asia  there  is  much  more  inland  geography,  chiefly  con- 
nected with  the  Twelve  Tribes  and  Biblical  history.  In  Africa 
the  lakes  east  and  west  of  the  Lacus  Salinarum  near  the  north 
coast  are  noteworthy  ;  like  Brigantia  (of  lighthouse  fame)  in  the 
north-west  of  the  Spanish  peninsula.  The  Caspian,  opening 
into  the  Northern  Ocean,  is  of  unusual  size.  Mons  Clinax{-rnax) 
in  the  middle  of  the  South  African  coast,  is  perhaps  a  misty 
reference  to  the  '  Chariot  of  the  Gods '  as  described  by  Hanno 
and  the  Greek  and  Latin  geographers  who  copied  him  ;  while  the 
two  small  unnamed  isles  west  of  Mount  Atlas  are  probably  in- 
tended for  the  Insulae  Fortunatae. 

England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  Denmark  [Neronoriveci  or  Neronor- 
roen\,  and  France  are  better  drawn  on  the  Cotton  than  on  any 
other  early  mediaeval  map ;  there  is  also  no  small  comparative 
merit  in  the  land  of  the  Scrito-Finns  and  Island,  representing  our 
Scandinavia,  and  in  Sicily,  whose  three  angles  appear ;  the  north 
coast  of  Asia  Minor  is  likewise  good.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
West  Mediterranean  is  poor  and  very  contracted ;  the  islands, 
especially  Sardinia  (?),  are  unsatisfactory.  France  is  so  squeezed 
between  Spain  and  Italy  that  its  south  coast  almost  disappears, 
except  for  the  Gulf  of  Lyons,  which  is  fairly  well  indicated.  In 
Italy,  Ravenna  on  the  south-west  coast  is  curious;  Verona  appears 
in  the  position  of  Aquileia.  In  Greece  the  name  Macedonia  seems 
written  over  the  Morea  ;  Athens  and  Attica  are  widely  separated. 

The  early  date  usually,  and,  as  far  as  we  can  judge,  rightly, 
assigned  to  the  Cotton  map,  has  been  questioned  on  the  ground 


612  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

of  its  correctness  of  form  and  multiplicity  of  detail.  It  is  too 
good,  some  have  said,  for  the  tenth  century.  But  this  objection, 
as  far  as  content  goes,  falls  to  the  ground  when  Ave  compare  it 
with  the  map  of  St.  Sever  and  with  the  written  data  still  remain- 
ing as  the  basis  of  the  lost  map  of  Pomponius  Mela. 

III.  (A). — With  the  Cotton  Map  may  be  associated,  perhaps 
in  a  very  intimate  relation,  the  Itinerary  of  Archbishop  Sigeric  of 
Canterbury  of  about  a.d.  992-994.  [This  occurs  on  folio  22  verso 
of  the  same  Cotton  manuscript.]  The  only  part  of  this  which 
is  given  in  any  detail  is  the  return  journey  from  Rome  to 
England ;  and  here  we  have  a  fairly  adequate  list  of  the 
pilgrims'  stopping-places  [sub  -  mansiones],  which  must  refer  to 
the  night-  or  sleeping-stations.  Hence,  perhaps,  the  omission  of 
several  towns,  through  which  Sigeric's  route  must  have  led,  such 
as  Langres.  The  day's  march  varies  between  seven  and  forty 
kilometres  ;  the  average  gives  us  a  little  over  eighteen,  with  four 
hours'  travelling  as  the  mean.  In  the  whole  reckoning  of  eighty 
days  rainy  ones  are  counted,  during  which  very  slow  progress 
was  made  ;  so  for  tine  weather  we  may  perhaps  raise  the  average 
to  about  thirty  kilometres  per  diem. 

Sigeric's  ordinary  mode  of  progress  was  probably  either  on 
horseback  or  on  foot ;  it  is  not  likely  that  he  could  have  made  a 
carriage-journey,  at  least  over  part  of  the  route.  From  the 
omission  of  many  of  the  larger  towns  in  his  'routier,'  we  may 
infer  that  he  was  travelling  incognito,  and  did  not  avail  himself 
of  his  position  as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  to  bespeak  the 
hospitality  of  the  great  city  prelates  and  religious  houses  in 
France  or  Italy. 

All  Sigeric's  reckonings  are  made  with  a  certain  '  conscious- 
ness of  his  goal,'  and  a  good  general  appreciation  of  the  route 
he  was  following,  of  its  distance  as  a  whole,  and  of  its  separate 
sections  in  their  parts.  The  road  from  Canterbury  to  Rome 
must  have  been  fairly  Avell  known ;  thus  Dunstan,  Sigeric's 
second  predecessor  in  the  See  of  Canterbury,  had  been  to  the 
Apostolic  See  for  his  pallium  in  960. 

The  eighty  days'  journey  of  Archbishop  Sigeric  is  divided 
into  eight  main  sections,  viz.  from  Rome  to  Forcassi ;  from  St. 
Valentine  (by  Siena  and  Lucca)  to  Camajore :  from  Luna  by 
Parma  to  San  Donnino ;  from  Fiorenzola  to  Piacenza;  from 
Piacenza  to  Ivrea  and  over  the  Great  St.  Bernard  to  Lausanne ; 
from  Lausanne  to  Besancon  ;  from  Besancon  to  Rheims  :  and  from 
Rheims  to  the  Sea.  In  the  first  section,  to  Forcassi,  the  pilgrim 
goes  along  1he  Via  Cassia;  on  the  second  section,  along  the  Via 
Clodia.     In  this  last  piece  of  the  road  our  Itinerary  seems  to 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  613 

supply  us  with  really  valuable  information,  helping  us  to 
supplement  or  correct  the  gaps  or  misreadings  of  the  Antonine 
Itinerary.  The  direct  road  from  Lucca  by  way  of  Siena  to  La 
Storta,  though  much  frequented  in  the  Middle  Ages,  'is  not 
recorded  in  any  ancient  writing  that  we  possess ' ;  even  the 
Peutinger  Table  gives  us  only  a  short  piece  from  Materno  to 
Foro  Clodio  [cf.  the  Itineraire  Brugeois ;  Lelewel,  Epilogue,  296- 
298.  Matt.  Paris  gives  the  same  route  in  1253  ; — from  Siena  by 
Acjuapendente,  Bolsena,  and  Cesano  to  Rome  ;  and  from  Bologna 
by  Siena  to  Rome].  Whereas  later  travellers  from  Rome  usually 
journeyed  on  the  Via  Cassia  as  far  as  San  Lorenzo,  and  first 
struck  the  Via  Gloclia  at  Aquapendente.  Sigerie,  during  this 
part  of  his  route,  seems  to  have  kept  to  the  Clodian  road  all  the 
way.  This  road  appears  to  have  led  the  wayfarer  into  the 
neighbourhood  of  Luna,  where  it  joined  the  Via  Litoralis  near  a 
certain  Forum  Clodii,  which  probably  marked  the  north  end  of 
the  Via  Gloclia.  [At  the  south  end  of  the  Via  Clodia  there  was 
another  Forum  Clodii.]  The  road  between  Luna  and  San 
Donnino,  noticed  by  Sigerie,  was  in  great  use  during  the 
Middle  Ages  at  various  times,  and  we  find  references  to  it  in 
the  Itineraire  Brugeois,  and  in  Matthew  Paris  [cf.  Matthew's 
'  Munt  Bardun'  and  '  Punt  Tremble ' ;  and  the  Itin.  Brug.,  xviii.; — 
Lucca— 'Pont  Tremoli' — Borgo  San  Donnino — Piacenza.  Pont 
Tremoli  or  Punt  Tremble  is  at  Parma].  Between  San  Donnino 
and  Piacenza  the  traveller  goes  along  the  Via  Emilia;  and 
between  Piacenza  and  Lausanne  his  route  corresponds  with 
one  that  is  marked  upon  the  Peutinger  Table.  Bej'ond  Lausanne 
Sigeric's  way  leads  through  Arbe,  Pontarlier,  and  Nods,  to 
Besancon,  not  along  the  present  high  road  through  Ornans,  but 
somewhat  north  of  this.  Between  Besancon  and  Rheims  the 
Archbishop  appears  to  keep  closely  to  an  old  Roman  military  road 
through  Cussey  over  the  River  Oignon,  through  Seveux  over  the 
Saone,  and  straight  through  Grenant  to  Langres  and  Ormancey, 
where  he  rested  after  a  heavy  day's  march  of  thirty-two  kilometres. 
At  Bar-sur-Aube  Sigerie  appears  to  have  met  with  the  present 
country  road  to  Brienne,  where  again  he  passes  on  to  a  Roman 
highway  leading  through  Chalons  to  Rheims.  The  whole  of  this 
section  is  quite  in  agreement  with  one  of  the  routes  marked  on 
the  Peutinger  Table,  though  the  stopping-places  are  usually 
different.  Lastly,  the  concluding  portion  of  the  Itinerary,  between 
Rheims  and  the  sea,  offers  certain  difficulties  in  identification, 
but  it  would  appear  to  lead  through  Corbeny  and  near  Peronne, 
by  Therouenne  (the  ancient  '  Tervanna ')  to  Guisnes  and  some 
point  on  the  coast  which  is  named  Sumeran,  and  which  must 
clearly  be  sought  somewhere  between  Calais  and  Cape  Gris  Nez. 


614  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

In  all  this  the  route  probably  runs,  for  the  most  part,  along- 
Roman  roads.  But  the  ancient  Itineraries  only  assist  us 
between  Therouenne  and  Arras  [Sigeric's  '  Aderats '],  giving  no 
direct  route  from  Arras  to  St.  Quentin  and  Rheims. 

Sigeric's  journey  shows  us  that  in  the  tenth  century  men 
could  still  use  large  sections  of  the  old  Roman  roads  which  in 
later  time  fell  into  almost  complete  disuse.  It  also  gives  us 
various  finger-posts  for  the  course  of  the  ancient  travel  and 
trade-routes,  even  where  ancient  records  leave  us  in  some 
doubt.  More  generally,  it  helps  to  illustrate  the  detailed 
geographical  knowledge  of  a  very  ignorant  period  along  one 
of  the  great  highways  connecting  the  '  Mother  and  Mistress ' 
of  all  Western  churches  with  one  of  its  most  famous  daughters. 

IV. — For  the  map  of  Henry  of  Mainz  ; — cf.  MS.,  Ixvi.  (earlier 
D.,  xii.  1)  in  the  C.C.C.  Library,  Cambridge,  which  contains  not 
only  the  Imago  Mundi  of  Honorius  of  Autun,  but  also  various 
geographical  sections  of  Pliny,  a  text  of  Rubruquis,  an  Itinerarium 
ad  Paradimm  terrestrem,  an  Eputola  Presbyteri  Johannis,  and 
many  other  different  writings,  twenty-four  in  all.  Nasmith's  Cata- 
logue of  1787  dates  the  Imago  manuscript  in  this  volume  to  the 
thirteenth  century ;  Bevan  and  Phillot  think  it  is  of  about  1180  ; 
it  once  belonged  to  Sta.  Maria  de  Salleia,  otherwise  the  Monastery 
of  Sawley  in  Craven,  Yorks,  not  the  House  of  Salem  in  Swabia, 
as  Walleser  suggests,  Welt-tafel  das  Ravennaten,  Mannheim,  1894, 
p.  3.  On  Henry's  career ; — cf.  the  Mainz  Ada  of  13th  December, 
1111,  and  see  Bohmer,  Regesta  Archiep.  Mogunt.,  Innsbruck,  1877, 
i.  244.  An  Archdeacon  Heinrich  of  Mainz  is  mentioned  in 
1104,  and  Bohmer  thinks  this  is  the  same  as  the  canon  and 
chaplain,  and  also  the  same  as  the  Archbishop  and  the  draughts- 
man of  our  map.  It  is  perhaps  doubtful  whether  we  have  not 
here  four  different  persons — (l)  The  Archbishop ;  (2)  the  Arch- 
deacon ;  (3)  the  Canon  ;  (4)  the  Map-maker.  K.  Miller  would 
identify  1,  3,  and  4.  For  some  time  the  Archbishop  was  the 
tutor  of  Henry,  son  of  the  Emperor,  Conrad  III.,  who  died  in 
1150.  This  prelate  was  buried  at  Eimbeck.  He  was  of  good 
family  ;  the  Counts  of  Wartberg  were  his  cousins  ;  and  he  himself 
is  once  referred  to  as  Henry  'of  Nassau.' 

The  Imago  Mundi  which  this  map  illustrates  has  been  some- 
times wrongly  ascribed  to  Anselm  of  Canterbury.  The  copy  made 
by  Henry  is  older  than  any  we  possess  of  Honorius'  work ;  the 
earliest  known  is  of  1123  [cf.  Brit.  Mus.,  Cotton  MSS.,  Cleopatra, 
B.'  iv.].  It  is  pretty  certain  that  Honorius  spent  the  last  twenty 
years  of  his  life  (1120  to  1140)  in  a  German  Monastery;  some 
think  in  a  Religious  House  on  the  Austrian  March.     But  most 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  615 

of  his  scientific  works,  and  the  Imago  among  them,  were  composed 
while  he  was  still  a  teacher  at  Antim,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
twelfth,  or  even  at  the  end  of  the  eleventh,  century. 

The  map  which  Henry  drew  to  illustrate  his  transcript  of  the 
Imago  of  Honorius  has  remained  in  comparative  obscurity  till 
recent  times  ;  the  text  has  been  badly  edited  ;  and  the  connection 
of  this  work  with  others  has  been  very  dimly  perceived.  [Cf. 
►Stanley,  Catalogue  of  the  Library  of  Archbishop  Parker,  1722  ; 
Nasmith,  Catalogue  of  the  C.C.C.  Library,  as  above;  Gough,  British 
Topography,  1780,  i.,  60  ;  ibid,  Essay  on  the  Rise  and  Progress  of 
Geography  in  Great  Britain,  p.  6  ;  T.  Wright,  St.  Patrick's  Pur- 
gatory, 1894,  p.  93,  etc.;  Santarem,  Essaisur  .  .  .  Gosmographie,  ii. 
242-244;  iii.  463-498,  and  Atlas ;  Bevan  and  Phillot,  Mediaeval 
Geography,  1874,  pp.  xxxvi.-xxxix.  Santarem's  reconstruction  of 
Mediaeval  Map  Legends  is  notoriously  faulty,  and  there  is  no 
exception  here  to  the  general  rule.  But  even  Bevan  and  Phillot 
have  more  than  thirty  misreadings.]  In  the  four  corners  (instead 
of  winds,  or  wind-blowers)  are  four  angels,  whom  Santarem  regards 
as  pointing  to  Gog-Magog  Land  and  to  Paradise,  and  blocking 
the  way  through  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar — perhaps  too  elaborate 
an  explanation.  However,  the  angel  in  the  left-hand  top  corner 
is  certainly  pointing  to  '  Gog  and  Magog,  an  unclean  race.'  All 
these  angels  have  golden  halos,  and  are  variously  coloured  in 
green  and  red ;  while  the  figure  on  the  upper  left  hand  carries 
something  which  has  been  variously  interpreted  as  a  cube  or  die, 
a  box,  or  a  church.  His  clothes  are  green,  except  for  an  upper 
cloak,  which  is  red  like  the  wings.  Exactly  the  opposite  arrange- 
ment of  colour  is  adopted  with  the  angel  that  fronts  him  on  the 
right,  _ 

All  the  seas,  save  the  Persian  and  Arabian  Gulfs,  are  light 
green;  the  'Red  Seas,'  the  mountaius,  and  certain  of  the  more 
important  names,  are  rubricated.  Excluding  the  '  Jerome '  maps, 
this  is  perhaps  the  richest  in  content  and  the  best  preserved 
among  all  twelfth-century  examples  of  cartography. 

As  to  the  want  of  exact  correspondence  between  Henry's  map 
and  the  Imago,  we  may  notice  that  the  former's  selection  of 
European  cities  is  not  represented  in  the  latter,  and  that  the 
interchange  of  '  Thile '  and  '  Tilos  '  which  we  find  on  the  Imago  is 
not  in  the  map. 

Santarem  has  well  pointed  out  that  the  Hereford  scheme  was 
a  working  up  of  Henry's  design.  As  to  this,  we  may  compare  the 
varied  outline  of  the  coast,  on  the  north  of  Europe  and  Asia,  and 
the  position  and  outlines  of  the  Baltic  Sea,  of  the  Scandinavian 
peninsula,  of  the  Caspian,  and  of  the  lands  of  the  Gog-Magogs, 
the  Hyperboreans,  and  the  Dog-headed  Folk.     The  coast  line  near 


616  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

Paradise  may  also  be  compared,  and  the  islands  adjoining  this 
coast,  such  as  '  Taraconta ' ;  likewise  the  position  and  outline  of 
the  Persian  Gulf,  the  Red  Sea,  and  the  island  of  Taprobane.  The 
peninsular  form  of  Italy  is  more  developed  on  Henry  of  Mainz 
than  in  the  Hereford,  but  the  delineation  is  not  unlike. 

The  Nile  of  Henry  of  Mainz  resembles  the  Cotton  or  Anglo- 
Saxon  map,  as  well  as  the  Hereford,  in  adopting  the  theory 
of  three  sections,  viz.  (a)  a  short  one  springing  from  a  Lake 
(Nitidis  Laeus)  near  the  Atlantic  :  (6)  a  long  stretch  from  a 
larger  Lake  (Lacus  Maximus)  running  parallel  to  the  Southern 
Ocean,  to  a  second  point  of  submergence  (hie  mergitur) ;  (c)  the 
Nile  of  Egypt,  springing  from  a  Fons  Fialus  near  the  Red  Sea, 
penetrating  the  Monte*  Nibiae  [i.e.  Nubiae],  and  thence  flowing  in  a 
south-west  direction  to  the  Mediterranean.  Both  Hereford  and 
Henry  of  Mainz  also  introduce  a  Lake  and  River  of  Triton  flow- 
ing into  the  Middle  Nile  (in  a  south-west  direction)  from  the 
Altars  of  the  PJiiJeni,  which  are  wrongly  placed,  far  from  the 
Mediterranean. 

In  Central  Africa  Orosius  is  probably  the  source  of  Henry  of 
Mainz'  (and  Hereford's)  Euzareae  Monies.  To  the  east  of  these 
are  the  Monies  Ethiqpiae,  Mount  Atlas  being  near  the  Atlantic, 
and  Mons  Hesperus  further  south.  Henry  of  Mainz  also  agrees 
with  Hereford  in  the  Mountains  of  Syria,  East  Asia,  and  Bactria, 
and  in  the  Caspian  Gates. 

The  rivers  of  Asia  also  agree  closely  ; — e.(j.  the  Hydaspes, 
Acesines,  and  Hypanis  (drawn  as  independent  of  the  Indus) ; 
the  Ganges  (on  the  other  side  of  Paradise,  towards  the  north, 
flowing  due  east) ;  the  Acheron  and  Oxus  (flowing  into  the 
Caspian) ;  the  two  unnamed  rivers  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Caspian ;  the  Pactolus  (flowing  into  the  Euxine) ;  and  the 
Cobar  (Chebar  (?),  flowing  into  the  upper  Euphrates). 

Among  other  coincidences  are,  (a)  in  Asia ; — the  wall  shutting 
off  the  peninsula  of  the  Gog-Magogs  ;  and  the  description  of  the 
same  people  as  unclean,  of  the  Hyperboreans  as  untroubled  by 
disease  and  discord,  of  the  Gryphons,  Griffons,  or  Griffins  as  most 
wicked,  and  of  the  Dog-headed  Folk  as  adjoining  the  Arctic  Ocean. 
Also  the  notices  of  Amazonia,  the  Golden  Mountains  (cf.  the 
'  Anglo-Saxon '  map),  the  Port  of  Cotonare,  Mount  Sephar  on 
the  Indian  Ocean,  and  the  Tower  of  Enos  just  outside  Paradise. 
(6)  In  Africa ; — the  Burning  Mountain  and  the  Seven  Mountains 
(here  also  cf.  the  '  Anglo-Saxon '  map) ;  the  Troglodytes  near  the 
Middle  Nile ;  the  River  Lethon  near  Cyrene ;  St.  Augustine's 
Hippo  ;  the  Basilisk  between  Triton  and  the  Nile  ;  the  horseshoe- 
formed  Temple  of  Jupiter-  Amnion;  the  Monasteries  of  St.  Antony, 
near  the  end  of  the  Middle  Nile  ;  and  the  Pepper  Wood  near 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  617 

the  lied  Sea ;  together  with  other  oddities  which  are  common  in 
mediaeval  cartography,  e.g.  the  Pyramids  as  Barns,  etc.  (c)  In 
Europe ; — the  Church  of  Santiago  at  Compostella,  and  near  it  a 
Pharos  (of  Brigantia  ?) ;  the  Danus,  tributary  of  the  Ebro,  un- 
named in  ancient  geography ;  the  boundary  of  the  Danes  and 
Saxons  ;  and  the  heart-shaped  town  of  Cardia  near  Constantinople. 

As  to  Islands,  Taraconta,  Rapharrica,  and  Abalcia,  on  the 
north  coast  of  Asia,  are  from  iEthicus  ;  Ganzmir  (for  Scanza  or 
Scandinavia)  is  a  remarkable  misreading,  also  found  in  Hereford. 
Hister,  Asia  Minor,  Galilea,  Sinus  Persicus,  and  some  other  names, 
wanting  on  Hereford,  but  supplied  by  Henry  of  Mainz,  are  pro- 
bably from  the  common  original. 

Various  peculiarities  of  nomenclature,  e.g.  Mene,  Island,  Jahdk, 
etc.,  are  also  common  to  both  works  ;  but  of  course  the  Hereford 
map  is  far  larger,  and  contains  much  more,  especially  in  relation 
to  classical  material.  The  229  legends  of  the  one  are  over- 
shadowed in  the  1021  of  the  other.  In  the  same  way,  among 
the  other  relatives  of  Henry's  map,  Bbstorf  (a  work  on  the  scale 
of  Hereford  and  a  most  close  parallel  to  the  latter)  dwarfs  its 
elder  cousin  of  Mainz  with  1224  legends  ;  '  Jerome '  supplies  407  : 
while  the  little  Psalter  map,  Henry's  younger  brother,  in  spite  of 
all  its  crowding,  can  only  give  us  145.  We  may  notice  that, 
among  other  works  of  similar  nature,  the  Cotton  map  gives  us 
14G  legends;  Lambert  of  St.  Omer,  180;  Matthew  Paris' world- 
map,  81  ;  the  Beatus  group,  477  ;  while  the  vast  scope  of  the 
Peutinger  Table  offers  3400  inscriptions. 

It  is  plain  from  the  great  number  of  nameless  rivers,  moun- 
tains, and  cities  in  the  Mainz  example,  that  the  work  may  well 
have  been  taken  from  a  larger  original.  There  is  another  proof 
of  the  same  in  the  eight  half-circles  which  occur  (apparently 
without  reason)  along  the  oval  margin  of  Henry's  ocean  ;  from 
other  works  we  may  recognise  these  as  representing  the  places  of 
the  eight  intermediate  winds. 

In  the  draughtsmanship  of  Asia  Minor,  the  Gulf  of  Issus,  and 
the  Black  Sea,  the  most  striking  analogies  may  be  found  between 
Henry  and  '  Jerome ' ;  and  from  a  study  of  these  particulars  we 
may  feel  practically  certain  that  some  correspondence  may  be 
assumed.  Henry's  agreement  with  'Jerome'  is  only,  of  course, 
partial,  even  in  the  Eastern  World  ;  but  it  is  far  closer  than  the 
likeness  between  '  Jerome  '  and  the  Hereford,  Psalter,  or  Ebstorf 
maps ;  and  we  may  believe  it  to  be  a  true  and  conscious 
relationship. 

V.— The  whole  design  of  the  'Psalter'  map  [Brit,  Mus.  Add. 
MSS.,   6806]    is,   like    the    Hereford,    a    highly    developed   but 


618  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

scientifically  debased  example  of  semi-mythical  Geography — 
an  elaborate  exposition  of  strictly  mediaeval  habits  of  thought, 
applied  to  Geography.  It  shows  us  '  World  Knowledge '  re- 
moved as  far  as  possible  from  the  comparative  science  of  the 
Ancient  Imperial  World,  and  as  yet  quite  untouched  by  the 
new  light  of  the  later  Middle  Age.  In  its  debasement  it  may  be 
to  some  extent  compared  (like  Hereford  and  Ebstorf)  with  the 
map  of  Cosmas,  '  the  Indian  traveller ' ;  but  its  perversions  are 
of  course  very  different,  both  in  kind  and  degree.  They  are 
in  some  ways  more  elaborate,  and  so  more  mischievous ;  on  the 
other  hand,  they  imply,  taken  as  a  whole,  a  more  detailed  know- 
ledge of  many  parts,  and  a  higher  artistic  sense. 

At  the  top  of  the  world-circle  is  the  Saviour  with  uplifted 
hands  ;  in  His  left  He  holds  the  globe  of  earth  ;  the  latter  has 
the  well-known  T"0  formation  of  the  Continents  sketched  upon 
its  surface.  On  both  sides  of  the  Saviour  stand  angels  swinging 
censers ;  below  are  two  dragons  facing  one  another.  On  the 
reverse  of  the  page  the  dragons  are  again  sketched  below  the 
earth -circle,  and  crushed  beneath  the  feet  of  the  Saviour,  whose 
form  thus  serves  as  a  background  and  support,  as  in  the  Ebstorf 
example  and  in  so  many  other  pictures,  to  the  circuit  of  the 
earth.  The  border  that  surrounds  the  map  is  almost  identical 
in  design  with  that  of  Hereford ;  but  the  '  Psalter '  border  is 
executed  in  pure  Piomanesque,  the  Hereford  in  Gothic.  This 
helps  us  to  date  the  former  about  fifty  years  earlier  than  the 
latter,  i.e.  c.  1250  a.d. 

The  ocean  appears  as  a  watery  zone,  of  equal  breadth  in 
every  part,  encircling  the  world.  The  various  winds,  each  re- 
presented by  a  head,  as  in  the  Hereford  map  and  on  the  Beatus 
of  1250  ('Paris  ii.')  are  designed  in  suitable  places  along  the 
outer  rim  of  ocean.  [This  sort  of  plan  is  prominent  in  later  works, 
like  the  great  mappe-monde  of  Ranulf  Higden.]  In  the  titles 
of  these,  the  draughtsman  of  the  Psalter  map  is  unusually  and 
severely  classical,  giving  us  the  famous  old  names  of  Aquilo 
and  S&ptentrio  for  the  North,  Zephyrus  for  the  West,  Atister 
or  Nofhus  for  the  South,  and  Eurus  or  Euro-Notlius  for  the 
East  and  South-East.  The  term  Vulturnus,  usually  applied  by 
classical  writers  to  the  South-East  wind,  is  assigned  rather  to 
the  North-North-East  by  the  Psalter  draughtsman.  The  Mediter- 
ranean, Black  Sea,  Propontis,  Caspian,  and  Red  Sea  are  all 
represented ;  the  waters  of  the  Levant  show  unusual  exaggera- 
tion ;  the  Euxine  is  brought  (as  often  elsewhere)  very  close  to 
the  Northern  Ocean.  The  coast  from  the  delta  of  the  Nile 
round  to  Caesarea  is  monstrously  distorted,  almost  resembling 
the  shore  of  a  lake.     The  Caspian  appears  as  a  narrow  indent 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  619 

of  the  Northern  Sea,  divided  in  two  by  a  long  peninsula  (in  the 
extreme  north-east  of  Asia),  and  encircled  by  the  greatest 
mountain-wall  in  the  world,  pierced  apparently  at  one  point  by 
the  Gates  of  Alexander. 

Paradise,  in  the  Far  East,  is  conceived  in  a  somewhat  excep- 
tional manner.  The  sun  pours  out  of  its  mouth  the  flood  of 
waters  which  flows  through  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and  supplies 
the  five  sacred  rivers  ;  for  the  draughtsman  has  entered  both 
Ganges  and  Phison  in  this  list.  The  heads  of  Adam  and  Eve 
appear  within  the  enclosure,  which  seems  to  be  marked  off  with 
lofty  and  symmetrical  mountains.  The  Tree  of  the  Temptation  is 
roughly  drawn  between  the  two  faces.  [Bevan  and  Phillot, 
Mediaeval  Geography,  xlii.,  suggest  the  Arbre  Sec,  which  they  make 
identical  with  the  Tree  of  the  Knowledge  of  Good  and  Evil ;  and 
Yule,  Marco  Polo,  ii.  397,  refers  us  to  legendary  language  about 
the  Dry  Tree  which  would  perhaps  support  such  an  identifica- 
tion; — 'in  the  midst  of  Paradise  was  a  fountain,  whence  flowed 
four  rivers,  and  over  the  fountain  a  great  Tree  bare  of  bark  and 
leaves.']  The  trees  of  the  Sun  and  Moon  are  here  separately 
indicated,  close  to  Paradise  on  the  south ;  while  the  Tigris  flows 
direct  from  Paradise  to  the  Indian  Ocean^  and  the  Euphrates 
(or  rather  one  of  two  rivers  so  named)  enters  a  mountain  chain 
west  of  Paradise,  named  Orcatoten,  and  thence  flows  to  the 
Persian  Gulf.  Of  the  Nile  only  the  Egyptian  portion  is  given. 
The  Arae  Liberi  et  Colimae  Herculi[s]  occur  near  the  Indus,  but 
the  Arae  AJexandri  are  near  the  border  of  Europe ;  Albania,  in 
North-East  Asia,  recalls  the  '  Anglo-Saxon '  or  '  Cotton '  map  ; 
Gyropolis,  near  the  Caspian,  is  perhaps  for  Gyreschata  on  the 
Jaxartes,  famous  for  Alexander's  siege ;  Sclaveni  occidentales, 
near  the  Black  Sea,  are  suggestive  of  much  more  modern  times, 
like  the  Island  of  Norvegia.  The  Arabian  and  Persian  Gulfs 
appear  to  be  melted  into  one  by  the  draughtsman  of  the  Psalter 
map,  and  in  the  same  great  indent  he  has  put  the  ocean,  off  the 
coast  of  India,  filled  with  large  islands.  The  Ganges  has  an 
utterly  false  direction,  flowing  from  the  northern  mountains, 
nut  into  the  sea,  but  to  Paradise,  like  one  of  the  two  Euphrates 
rivers,  here  delineated.  North- West  Africa  is  marked  off  (like 
the  north-east  of  Asia)  by  a  belt,  which  was  perhaps  intended 
for  mountains,  as  in  the  other  case,  but  remains  as  a  mere  linear 
mark  with  the  legend,  Sandy  and  Desert  Land. 

Among  the  monsters  of  South  Africa  are  Dog-headed  Folk  and 
people  with  heads  in  various  stages  of  aggressiveness,  having 
either  descended  between  their  shoulders  or  else  absorbed  the 
entire  trunk  of  the  body.  Besides  these  there  are  Cannibals, 
a  race  with  six  fingers,   Troglodytes,  Serpent-eaters,  Skiapodes, 


G20  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

and  a  nation  that  obtained  shadow  from  the  hugeness  not  of  their 
foot  but  of  their  lip  ;  tribes  also  without  tongues,  without  ears,  or 
without  noses;  others  who,  having  only  a  little  hole  for 
mouths,  were  forced  to  suck  their  food  through  a  reed  ;  '  Maritime 
JEthiops '  with  four  eyes ;  and  beings  who  never  walked,  but 
crawled  on  hands  and  feet.  [These  races,  fourteen  in  all,  come 
mostly  from  Solinus  ;  many  of  them  occur  also  on  Ebstorf,  on 
Hereford,  or  on  both.]  The  Ark  of  Noah  appears  very  clearly 
on  a  mountain  of  Armenia,  and  a  large  fish  swims  in  the  middle 
of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  perhaps  as  a  reminiscence  of  New  Testament 
history.  The  Barns  of  Joseph,  close  to  Babylon  of  Egypt,  show 
ns  that  our  artist  has  heard  of  the  Pyramids.  The  most  famous 
cities  of  the  ancient  world,  and  the  most  famous  sites  of  the 
Bible  Story,  are  nearly  all  represented ;  while  the  immense 
and  symmetrical  Jerusalem,  in  the  very  middle  of  the  world, 
forms  a  perfect  centre  to  an  exact  circle.  [One  might  ahnost 
compare  the  ideal  world  of  the  Psalter,  Hereford,  and  Ebstorf 
maps,  in  its  general  shape,  with  the  contour  of  real  Moscow, 
Jerusalem  answering  to  the  Kremlin.] 

The  closest  relation  of  the  Psalter  map  is  the  Ebstorf,  which 
is  probably  junior  by  at  least  half  a  century  ;  but  the  former  is 
remarkable  for  a  number  of  old  names  which  do  not  occur  on 
the  maps  of  Ebstorf  or  Hereford.  Its  delineation  of  the  mon- 
strous races  of  the  south  show  a  more  antique  character,  and  so 
probably  a  closer  relationship  to  the  common  eleventh-century  (?) 
original.  That  original  probably  contained  many  names  and 
legends,  attached  to  various  indications  of  cities  and  natural 
features,  which  have  only  partially  survived  in  the  derivatives. 
In  its  text  the  Psalter  map  seems  to  be  a  very  imperfect  copy 
of  this  original,  both  in  amount  and  style,  though  it  gives  us 
an  astonishingly  large  mass  of  matter  for  its  size.  In  its 
delineation  of  the  World-Picture  our  present  example  perhaps 
reproduces  its  model  better  than  in  its  text ;  the  scribe  was 
presumably  better  as  a  draughtsman  than  as  a  scholar. 

The  Psalter  and  Ebstorf  have  a  curiously  similar  treatment 
of  the  Caspian  Rampart  (otherwise  'Alexander's  Wall,'  the 
'  H3Tcanian  Mountains,'  or  'Barrier  of  the  Jews'),  shutting  in 
the  Gog-Magogs  and  other  monsters  of  the  North ;  but  the 
Gates  of  Alexander  are  more  clearly  marked  on  our  present 
copy  than  anywhere  else  in  this  Family  of  Maps.  The  two 
baj^s  which  run  off  northward  from  the  '  Erythraean '  indent  of 
the  ocean  are  somewhat  unusual  in  their  position  and  concep- 
tion ;  one  corresponds  to  the  upper  part  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  the 
other  to  the  sea  at  the  mouth  of  the  Indus,  the  Gulf  and  K-unn 
of  Cutch,  or  perhaps   the   Gulf  of  Cambay.      On  the  Psalter, 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  621 

'Jerome,'  Hereford,  and  Ebstorf  maps  alike,  Africa  stretches 
round  very  close  to  the  neighbourhood  of  India ;  and  further 
similarities  may  be  observed  in  the  unnatural  abridgment  of 
the  three  peninsulas  of  Southern  Europe,  both  Greek,  Spanish, 
and  Italian. 

With  the  Hereford  map  the  textual  correspondence  is  almost 
as  noticeable  as  with  Ebstorf;  and  the  differences  in  carto- 
graphical form  are  often  mere  arbitrary  eccentricities  of  the 
designer.  We  may  consider  this  little  circular  plan,  so 
minute  in  scale,  so  immense  in  the  quantity  of  its  details,  as 
a  sort  of  bridge  between  the  types  of  Ebstorf,  Hereford,  and 
Mainz.  At  the  same  time,  like  Ebstorf  and  Hereford,  it  stands 
much  further  away  from  the  'Jerome'  maps  than  does  the  work 
of  Henry  ;  but,  with  the  '  Jerome '  map  of  the  Orient,  it  helps  us 
to  fill  up  that  great  gap  which  has  been  left  in  the  Far  East  of 
the  Ebstorf  example.  [Perhaps  the  trees  of  the  Sun  and  Moon, 
as  shown  in  the  Psalter,  correspond  to  the  Pillars  of  Alexander 
and  of  Hercules  in  the  original  design.]  Outside  its  own  family 
the  Psalter  map  has  some  points  of  agreement  both  with  Lambert 
of  St.  Omer  and  with  Beatus.  Of  modern  names  it  gives  us 
several  in  Europe,  one  in  Africa,  none  in  Asia,  The  most 
interesting  of  these  are  Damietta,  in  a  wholly  wrong  position  ; 
the  'Ruscitae'  or  Russians,  perhaps  derived  from  the  Ruzzia  of 
Adam  of  Bremen,  the  '  Olcus '  or  Volga,  the  '  Land  of  the 
Western  Slavs,'  'Ala'  or  Halle  in  Germany,  and  three  names 
in  Britain,  viz.  Scotland,  Wales  ('  AValni '),  and  Cornwall. 
[Bevan  and  Phillot  were  the  first  to  describe  and  photograph 
this  map.  See  Mediaeval  GeograjJiy,  p.  xli.  Cf.  also  Anton 
Springer,  Die  Psalter-Imitationen,  Leipzig,   1880.] 

VI. — Lambert  of  St.  Omer  was  a  son  of  one  Onulf,  canon 
of  that  church,  who  died  26th  January,  1077  ;  he  composed  his 
Liber  Floridus  at  different  dates,  as  well  as  from  different  authors 
(cf.  his  own  words  ;—  '  Ego  Lambertus  cancmicus  iS.  Audomeri 
librum  istum  de  diver sorum  auctoruvt  Jioribus  contexui').  In  his 
chronicle  he  alludes  to  Pope  Calixtus  [I.  (1119-1124)  as  then 
reigning.  Besides  the  world-map)  and  other  designs  noticed  in 
the  text,  pp.  570-3,  he  gives  us  lists  of  the  winds  and  chief  towns 
of  the  world,  and  four  astrological  or  astronomical  schemes.  [The 
Ghent  MS.,  apparently  an  autograph  of  Lambert's,  is  noticed  in 
1248  as  belonging  to  the  Cathedral  Library  of  Ghent  (St,  Bavon). 
Its  map  content  is  as  follows  : — (1)  On  folio  19,  a  T~0  sketch 
(Spltaera  triplicata  gentium  mundi) ;  here  the  names  of  peoples 
agree  with  Julius  Honorius,  in  the  JEthican  Recension.  (2)  On 
folio  20,  a  Sphaera  Minotauri  and  a  Domus  Daedal  i.    (3)  On  folio 


622  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

24,  an  Or  do  Ventorum.  (4)  On  the  same  folio,  a  Sphaera  Macrobii 
de  V.  Zonis.  (5)  On  folio  28,  the  promise  of  the  unexecuted 
Mappa  vel  Or[  m  ]esda  Mundi.  (6)  On  folio  49,  a  list  of  great  towns, 
especially  Rome,  Nineveh,  Babylon,  and  Ecbatana.  (7)  On  folio 
88,  a  Terras  Globus  to  illustrate  Baeda,  De  Astrologia.  (8)  On  folios 
136-139,  various  genealogies,  with  a  picture  of  Caesar  Augustus 
on  folio  138.  This  is  related  to  cartographical  ideas  through  the 
taxation,  survey,  and  official  mapping  of  the  Roman  world 
attributed  to  Augustus.  (9)  On  folio  225,  another  Macrobian 
Zone  map.  (10)  On  folios  226-228,  three  astronomical  sketches, 
of  Macrobian  type.  (11)  On  folio  241,  the  map  of  Europe  above 
referred  to;  cf.  Santarem,  Essai  sur  .  .  .  Cosmographie,  ii.  154,  155  ; 
Pertz,  Archie,  vii.  540;  Serapewn,  1842,  145-161,  etc.  ;  1845  (vi.), 
59,  etc.  ;  also  the  Messager  den  Sciences  ltistoriques  de  Belgique, 
1844,  473-506. 

Besides  the  world-map  the  Paris  manuscript  contains  (with 
certain  differences)  several  of  the  smaller  designs  which  Ave  find 
in  the  Ghent  copy  of  the  Lambertian  encyclopaedia.  Thus  we  have 
Augustus  Caesar  holding  a  T"0  world  in  his  left  hand,  an 
astronomical  sketch,  and  an  outline  figure  of  the  'earth-globe.' 

But  on  the  Paris  map  all  names  of  seas  are  wanting ;  the 
Mediterranean  is  indistinguishable  from  a  river ;  and  the  con- 
tinents and  countries  lack  all  clear  differentiation.  The  script, 
moreover,  is  exceedingly  difficult ;  and  Lambert's  material  has 
been  so  much  re-arranged  that  it  is  not  easjr,  in  some  cases,  to 
find  any  agreement  with  the  indications  of  the  Ghent  copy. 

The  Wolfenbiittel  manuscript  is  now  known  as  1  Gucliana  lat., 
of  the  twelfth  century  ;  Warnkonig,  Geschichte  von  Flandem, 
thinks  this  manuscript  is  older  than  that  of  Ghent,  but  this  can- 
not be  maintained  ;  cf.  Bethmann,  Serapewn,  vi.  64.  The  '  Paris ' 
is  in  Bibl.  Nat.,  Suppl.  Lat.,  10  bis,  and  belongs  to  the  end  of  the 
thirteenth  century ;  it  contains  some  beautiful  miniatures  (cf. 
Santarem, Essai  .  .  .  sur  Cosmographie,  ii.  163-172, 198;  and  Atlas). 
Other  references  to  the  Lambert  maps,  especially  at  Ghent,  may 
be  found  in  Mone,  Anzeiger  fur  die  Kiinde  der  .  .  .  Vorzeit, 
Karlsruhe,  1836,  p.  36,  and  Tafel  i.  ;  St.  Genois  in  Messager, 
Ghent,  1844,  p.  602,  pi.  iii.  ;  Santarem,  Essai  sur  .  .  .  Cosmo- 
graphie, ii.  44,  82,  95,  157-160,  185,  197,  and  Atlas;  Lelewel, 
Atlas,  pi.  8.] 

On  the  Lambert  maps  the  seas  and  rivers  are  usually  green, 
the  mountains  red  ;  but  each  of  the  three  copies  offers  peculiarities 
of  its  own.  Ghent,  though  it  only  supplies  us  with  Europe,  gives 
much  more  detail  in  this  part  of  the  world.  Wolfenbiittel  alone 
gives  Philistia,  Palestine,  Bactria,  and  the  Mountains  of  Taurus 
and  Caucasus.  Paris  alone  contains  Gallia  Comata,  Troy,  and 
the  Australian  inscription.     A  similar  but  shorter  description  of 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  623 

the  Southern  Ocean  occurs  in  one  of  the  small  Zone  maps  of  the 
Liber  Floridus. 

The  conception  worked  out  by  Krates  was  shared  to  some 
extent  by  Agathemeros  and  Martianus  Capella,  as  well  as  by 
Macrobius,  Eumenius,  Nonnus,  Ampelius,  and  Kleomedes,  and 
was  widely  diffused  in  the  later  Imperial  time.  From  the  four- 
fold  Kratesian  world,  Berger,  Erdlc.  d.   Griechen,  iii.,   123,  129, 

plausibly  derives  the  imperial  ball  £|=)   with  its  two  circles. 

Lambert's  exact  language  here  is  not  without  interest.  First 
we  have  the  Terrestrial  Paradise,  with  the  unique  addition  of 
Enoch  and  Elias,  and  from  the  same  liow,  as  is  customary, 
the  four  sacred  rivers  of  the  Eastern  World.  Like  Cosmas, 
Lambert  evidently  intends  these  streams  to  have  a  subterranean 
course  between  Paradise  and  '  Our  World.' 

Henry  of  Mainz  offers  some  points  of  comparison  (for  instance, 
in  the  form  of  Spain  and  the  position  of  Italy) ;  the  Psalter  map, 
the  '  Cottoniana/  and  Guido  also  supply  occasional  analogies  ;  but 
Lambert  has  no  direct  relation  with  any  of  these,  is  based  on 
a  far  older  original,  and  can  only  be  connected  for  any  useful 
result  with  the  Macrobius-,  Zone-,  and  Climate-maps. 

The.  modern  names  are  scanty ;  Norway,  Flanders,  Bavaria, 
the  Arm  or  Strait  of  St.  George,  and  a  few  others,  make  up  the 
list.  With  Isidore  there  are  some  points  of  agreement  which 
mean  nothing ;  for  they  are  such  as  may  be  found  on  ail  old 
maps,  and  afford  no  sufficient  proof  that  Lambert  used  the 
Doctor  of  the  Church  of  Seville.  The  Orosius  connections  are 
perhaps  a  little  more  definite,  but  they  mainly  depend  on  a 
specialised  but  not  identical  use  of  two  rare  names — '  Samara '  and 
'Octogorra'  or  'Ottorogorra.'  [On  Lambert  Ottorogorra  is  an 
island  instead  of  a  river.]  With  Julius  Honorius,  on  the  other 
hand,  we  may  confidently  assume  a  certain,  though  slight, 
relationship ;  for  Lambert  himself  gives  us  in  the  Liber  Floridus 
a  T-Q  maP  hi  which  the  names  of  peoples  and  races  to  a 
large  extent  agree  with  the  iEthican  Recension  of  Honorius ; 
even  some  of  the  oddities  are  reproduced,  such  as  the  placing 
of  the  Germanic  folks  in  Asia.  On  the  Lambert  mappe-monde, 
however,  these  names  are  differently  written.  Many  of  them  are 
also  found  in  other  old  writers,  so  that  we  must  not  press  unduly 
the  Honorian  connection  with  Lambert's  World-Picture. 

With  the  Anonymous  Bavennese  there  are  some  surprising 
points  of  contact,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  mention  and  placing  of 
'Tuscia,'  Neustria,  'Scanza,'  Venetia,  Sclavinia,  Emilia,  Istria, 
Burgundia,  the  Huns,  the  Lazi,  and  Thyle  (West  of  Spain). 
With  Martianus  Capella  there  are  certain  possible  resemblances, 


624  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

which,  however,  mostly  apply  just  as  well  to  Pomponius  Mela 
and  Solinus ; — e.g.  Magnesia  as  a  Province ;  Pontica  and 
'  Margiane '  or  Merv  as  Regions ;  the  Islands  of  the  Sun  and  the 
Gorgades.  With  Mela  we  may  compare  the  '  Oceanus  Scythicus ' ; 
with  Solinus  '  Ahalcia,'  '  Margiane  '  is-also  a  Ptolemy  coincidence. 
With  Beatus  and  the  Peutinger  Table,  we  have  the  common 
peculiarity  of  the  'Vandals.'  With  iEthicus  of  Istria  certain 
doubtful  coincidences  may  be  found.  But  the  Gryphons  or 
Griffins  occur  also  in  Isidore,  and  even  earlier ;  while  the 
language  of  Lambert  about  the  Gog-Magogs,  and  the  thirty-two 
nations  imprisoned  by  Alexander,  is  not  identical  with  iEthicus, 
though  it  recalls  the  language  of  the  Istrian  romancist,  especially 
in  the  matter  of  the  number  of  these  races  of  evil  men  here 
mentioned.  For  only  iEthicus,  among  all  writers  from  whom 
Lambert  could  have  borrowed,  speaks  of  gentes  xzxii. 

Lambert's  Natural  History  is  often  curious,  derived  as  it  is 
from  various  ancient  works,  somewhat  imperfectly  understood, 
and  often  combined  with  apparent  originality.  Instances  of 
the  latter  are  the  fauns  of  India,  the  parrots  and  elephants 
of  Arabia,  and  the  apes  of  Parthia.  Lambert's  Hjrrcanian  tigers 
are  perhaps  from  Aminianus  Marcellinus  :  his  Arabian  lions 
from  Strabo  or  Agatharcides  ;  his  Indian  pygmies  and  Arabian 
cinnamon  from  Isidore ;  his  trees  of  the  Sun  and  Moon  from 
the  Alexander  Romance  of  the  Pseudo-Kallisthenes ;  while 
his  Griffins  of  the  North  might  be  derived  from  many  authors. 

We  must  not,  however,  suppose  that  Lambert's  mappe-monde 
is  a  comjuilation  from  a  large  number  of  writers.  It  is  not 
impossible  that  Lambert's  map,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
more  recent  names,  was  taken  bodily  from  an  ancient  world- 
sketch  of  the  fourth  or  fifth  century.  But  even  if  it  is 
the  outcome  (in  its  general  outlines)  of  a  lost  original  from 
the  latter  days  of  the  old  Empire,  yet  it  has  been  greatly 
modified  by  its  twelfth-century  redactor,  and  in  part  at  least  it 
truly  belongs  to  the  central  mediaeval  time.  As  to  this,  we  ma}- 
notice  especially  some  of  the  islands  in  Lambert,  such  as  Tritonia, 
apparently  a  fancy  name  from  the  River  Triton  in  ^Ethiopia ; 
Betania  or  Britain,  placed  over  against  the  Pillars  of  Hercules 
or  Straits  of  Gibraltar ;  the  Balearic's,  defined  as  '  over  against 
Spain,'  but  located  in  the  ocean  ;  and  the  Orcades  or  British 
fringing-islets,  thirty-three  in  number,  lying  over  against  Britain 
and  GofJiia.  For  Lambert's  one  '  Fortunate  Island '  off  Mt.  Atlas, 
and  his  Island  of  the  Blessed  (Beata)  off  Mauritania,  we  may 
refer  to  the  Anonymous  Ravennese  [ed.  Finder  and  Parthey, 
325,  o  ;  444,  3] ;  for  his  similar  blunder  in  the  double  Hibemia 
the  Beatus  maps  furnish  parallels  [cf.  Santarem,  JEssai  sur  .  .  . 
Gosmographie,  ii.  158-159]. 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  625 

VII. — Macrobius  was  also  the  author  of  Saturnalia,  which 
deal  with  historical,  critical,  antiquarian,  and  mythological 
matters  ;  and  of  a  Grammatical  Treatise  which  has  perished, 
except  in  an  abridgment.  Though  he  says  that  Latin  was  a 
foreign  tongue  to  him,  he  probably  wrote  these  works  in  that 
language  [cf.  Dawn  of  Modern  Geography,  i.  pp.  343,  344]. 

The  chief  examples  of  Macrobian  maps  are  (1)  two  of  the 
tenth  century,  mentioned  by  Santarem,  Essaisur.  .  .  Cosrniograjphie, 
ii.  41,  but  without  proper  reference.  (2)  One  of  the  tenth 
century,  at  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  7,>85  (Santarem,  ibid,  ii.  47).  (3) 
One  of  the  tenth  or  eleventh  century  (Santarem,  ibid,  iii. 
460).  (4)  One  of  the  ninth  century,  at  Munich.  (5)  One  of  the 
tenth  or  eleventh  century,  at  Munich.  (6)  One  of  the  twelfth 
century,  at  Munich.  (7)  One  of  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century, 
at  Bamberg.  (8)  One  of  the  thirteenth  century,  at  Berlin.  (9) 
One  of  the  thirteenth  century,  at  Berne.  (10)  Two  of  the 
eleventh  to  thirteenth  centuries,  at  Leyden  (Vossian  MSS.). 
Nos.  4  to  11  are  noticed  in  Jan's  edition  of  Macrobius,  1848; 
which  Eyssenhardt,  1868,  has  made  great  use  of.  Many  other 
Macrobius  manuscript-maps  doubtless  exist,  but  have  not  yet 
been  noticed. 

A  zone  map  of  Macrobian  type  is  found  in  the  tenth-century 
manuscript  of  Bede's  De  t&nvporum  ratione,  bound  up  with  the 
Periegesis  of  Priscian  and  the  Cotton  or  '  Anglo-Saxon '  map  ;  in 
every  important  respect  it  may  be  assumed  to  reproduce  Bede's 
original.  It  occurs  in  Cotton  MS.  Tib.,  B.  V.,  folio  29  ;  is  un- 
coloured,  except  for  a  green  border  ;  is  circular  in  form  ;  measures 
ten  inches  across ;  represents  the  globus  terraqueus ;  and  seems 
intended  to  show  the  movement  of  the  oceans  as  well  as  the 
position  of  the  zones  or  climates.  It  has  a  slight  sketch  of  the 
Mediterranean,  with  two  city-pictures,  probably  of  Rome  and 
Jerusalem,  and  with  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  The  continents  are 
indicated  by  inscriptions  ; — Africa,  Asia,  JEqu.itania  (sic)  ;  but  no 
drawing  of  their  outlines  is  given.  In  the  middle  of  the  sketch 
is  an  inscription,  which  gives  an  estimate  of  the  four  great 
divisions  of  the  world's  circuit,  with  special  reference  to  the  ebb 
and  flow  of  the  ocean,  and  a  description  of  the  equinoctial  zone, 
'almost  entirely  washed  above  and  below  by  the  sea,  which 
flows  round  about  through  the  midst  of  the  land,  dividing  the 
whole  earth  into  four  islands,  as  it  were;  which  islands  are 
inhabited  .  .  ;  and  as  through  the  midst  of  the  land,  so  also 
round  about  the  circuit  of  the  same,  runs  the  sea,  which  from 
heat  or  cold  is  untraversable  ': — '  /Equinoctialis  Zona  hie  incipiens 
pene  lata  alluitur  superius  et  inferius  rnari,  quod  dum  per  me- 
dium   terrae   circumldbitur,     in   II1I    quasi    insulas    totus    orbis 

2  it 


626  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

dividitur }  quae  inhabitantur ;  estenim  solstitialis  superior  et  inferior 
habitabilis  ;  similiter  superior  et  inferior  hiemalis ;  deque  fit  ut  per 
medium,  et  in  circuitu  orbis  mare  currat  quod  colore  vel  frigore  est 
intransmeabile :  estque  depreliensus  totius  orbis  ambitus  in  stadiis 
ducentis  quinquaginta  duobus  millibus.'  Besides  this  there  are 
only  the  five  climate  labels  :  Arcticus,  JEstivus,  yEquinoctialis, 
Fliemalis,  Antarcticus,  and  the  four-fold  inscription  round  the 
rim,  '  Hinc  rejiuit  Oceanus  ad  septentrionem  [or,  austrum]  per 
LXIII  stadiorum,'  twice  repeated  in  each  form. 

This  map  goes  with  chapter  34  of  the  De  temporum  ratione ; 
which  again  is  based  on  St.  Isidore,  Etymol.,  iii.,  43;  xiii.  6; 
De  Nat.  Rer.,  x.  It  shows  some  relationship  to  the  Dijon 
map  of  1064  (MS.  269),  which  is,  however,  more  astronomical 
[cf.  K.  Miller,  KJeineren  WeltJcarten,  124]. 

[On  Macrobian  maps  in  the  Imago  Mundi  of  Honorius  of 
Autun,  cf.  Santarem,  Essaisur  .  .  .  Cosmographie,u.  237,  239,  etc.  ; 
Lelewel,  GSog.  Moyen  Age,  i.  53  ;  and  Atlas,  plate  viii.  The 
Magna  de  Naturis  Pliilosopltia  of  William  of  Conches  is  some- 
times wrongly  ascribed  to  the  Abbot  William  of  Hirsau.  There 
is  a  thirteenth-century  manuscript  of  this  in  the  Stuttgart  Public- 
Library,  Cod.  med.  and  phys.,  No.  15.  The  maps  are  on  folios 
13,  25,  29  ;  cf.  Santarem,  Essai,  iii.  499-505.]  The  second  of 
William's  designs  shows  round  the  earth-circle,  as  in  the  Baeda 
example,  the  dimensions  of  the  four  segments  ;  the  four  great 
tidal  movements  are  also  inscribed.  Above  the  Earth-Island, 
towards  the  left,  is  the  Indian  Sea  ;  below  is  the  Mediterranean  ; 
to  the  left  of  the  same  are  Europe  and  Cat  pes;  to  the  right, 
Africa  and  Atlas. 

In  the  Garden  of  Deliglits  of  Abbess  Herrade,  the  Macrobian 
map  is  on  folio  10  A.  In  the  manuscript  of  Hyginus,  referred  to 
in  text  (p.  575),  once  at  Bobbio,  later  at  Wolfenbuttel,  Figure 
No.  160  is  specially  notable.  Macrobian  maps  are  also  in  the 
Naples  MSS.,  V.  A.  12,  V.  A.  10  (12  bis)  of  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries  ;  and  in  the  Leipzig  MS.  xliii.  (City  Library) 
of  thirteenth  century,  at  the  conclusion  of  Walter's  Alexand 'reis ; 
cf.  Wuttke,  Serapeum,  xiv.  249.  According  to  Philippi,  Zur 
ReJxo?ist.  d.  WeMkarte  d.  Agrippa,  i.  2,  Cecco  d'Ascoli  (1257- 
1327  A.D.)  wrote  a  commentary  to  the  De  Sphaera  Mundi  of 
Sacrobosco,  and  reproduced  the  zone  map. 

VIII. — The  Climate  map  of  Petrus  Alphousus  is  in  MS.  1218, 
Suppl.  Lat.,  of  the  Bibliothecpue  Nationale,  Paris.  Arim,  Arin,  or 
Aren  occurs  on  Persian  maps  of  the  twelfth  century  as  the  umbilical 
point  of  the  earth,  just  as  it  is  described  by  earlier  writers  of 
the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  ;  Roger  Bacon  identifies  this  spot 
with  Syene. 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  fi?7 

Alphonsus  clearly  shows  in  tin's  particular  the  fact  of  Arab 
influence ;  a  confirmation  of  the  same  is  seen  in  the  orientation 
of  his  little  map,  which  gives  the  south  at  the  top.  Below  the 
Arim  picture,  which  is  here  portrayed  as  a  city  of  superhuman 
size  and  grandeur,  he  designates  seven  habitable  climates,  and  at 
the  foot  of  all  a  northern  zone  uninhabitable  from  the  cold. 

These  Climate  maps  were  probably  common  in  the  Moslem 
Geography  which  arose  under  Al  Mamun,  and  attained  so  great 
a  development  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries.  According  to 
Masudi  they  were  coloured ;  one  of  special  merit  was  issued  by 
order  of  the  Caliph  Al  Mamun  ;  but  another  standard  example 
was  to  be  found  in  Ptolemy.  This  branch  of  cartography  among 
the  Arabs  and  Franks  was  based  on  Greek  originals  ;  many  of 
these  originals,  such  as  those  examined  by  Masudi,  are  now 
lost ;  but  we  still  possess  enough  in  the  way  of  written 
descriptions  to  trace  the  development  of  the  Climate-scheme, 
and  to  see  how  greatly  the  primitive  conception  was  modified 
in  the  course  of  time  [cf.  Santarem,  Essai  sur  .  .  .  Cosmoijraphie, 
i.  92 ;  iii.  332].  At  first  the  term  Climate  implied  merely 
the  K/\/px,  or  supposed  slope  of  the  earth  from  a  higher  North 
to  a  lower  South,  or  vice  verm ;  secondly,  from  the  time  of  the 
great  astronomer  Hipparchus  (c.  B.C.  160),  the  different  belts  or 
zones  of  the  curved  or  spherical  earth-surface  (as  determined 
by  the  different  lengths  of  the  longest  day  at  Syene,  Alexandria, 
Byzantium,  and  so  forth)  are  understood.  It  was  to  illustrate 
this  leading  feature  of  our  world,  especially  for  the  aid  of  mathe- 
matical and  astronomical  geography,  that  the  Climate  maps  arose ; 
in  the  wider  sense  of  the  word,  all  ancient  designs  of  truly 
scientific  character,  such  as  Ptolemy's,  were  climatic ;  but  of 
course  these  works  paid  attention  to  many  other  things  besides 
climatic  distinction.  In  the  narrower  sense,  with  which  we  are 
here  concerned,  this  last  is  the  sole  object. 

IX. — Along  with  the  elaborate  and  comparatively  scientific 
geography  of  Eratosthenes  or  Ptolemy,  the  ancient  world  also  had 
a  popular  system,  represented  in  some  of  its  phases  by  Krates 
of  Mallos,  by  Macrobius,  and  by  the  zone-  or  climate-sketches  we 
have  already  had  to  consider  ;  another  side  of  the  same  is 
portrayed  in  the  ~T  or  TO  designs.  Thus  Hipparchus  (in 
the  second  century  B.C.)  recommends  students  of  Geography 
to  glance  at  the  ancient  map  sketches  as  well  as  the  scientific 
plan  of  Eratosthenes.  Again,  Agathemerus  says  the  Ancients 
constantly  drew  the  Habitable  World  in  circular  form  ;  putting 
Hellas  Proper  in  the  midst  of  the  Oikoumeni,  and  Delphi  in 
the    midst    of    Hellas.      Among    Roman    geographers   a   more 


628  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

favourite  middle  point  was  found  in  the  iEgaean  Sea,  and 
especially  in  the  Isle  of  Delos  ;  but  the  complete  agreement 
of  the  "  "  maps  of  the  earlier  and  later  time  is  expressed  by 
Sallust  in  a  famous  passage  of  his  Jugurtha  [ch.  17,  lin  divisione 
Orbis  Terrae  plerique  partem  tertiam  Africani  posuere  ;  pauci 
tantummodo  Asiam  et  Europam  esse,  sed  Africani  in  Europa ;  cf. 
S.  Berger,  Geschichte  d.  ErdJc.  d.  Griechen,  1887,  i.  10,  85 ; 
ii.  64;  also  Biese,  Geographi  Latini  Minores,  p.  90.  Other 
descriptions  confirm  Sallust's  language,  and  show  us  how 
differently  the  area  of  the  different  continents  was  estimated 
by  various  writers.  Thus  Pliny,  dividing  the  whole  land  area 
into  sixty  parts,  makes  Europe  occupy  twenty-eight,  Asia  nine- 
teen, and  Africa  thirteen  of  these.  Again,  Orosius,  at  the 
beginning  of  his  cosmographical  chapter,  refers  to  the  triple 
estimate  (of  three  continents)  as  well  as  to  a  double  estimate, 
based  on  the  supposed  preponderance  of  Europe.  [Our  ancestors 
made  a  three-fold  division  of  the  Orb  of  the  whole  earth  surrounded 
by  the  limbus  of  ocean,  and  named  those  three  parts  Asia,  Europe, 
and  Africa  ;  but  some  considered  it  better  to  treed  only  of  two  parts, 
— Asia  on  one  side,  and  Africa  with  Europe  on  the  other. ~\  The 
latter  reckoning  usually  made  Asia  equal  to  Europe  and  Africa 
together.  In  the  cosmography  of  JEthicus  {i.e.  of  Julius 
Honorius)  the  three-fold  division  of  Orosius  is  contrasted  with 
the  four-fold  arrangement  of  another  tradition. 

To  the  examples  of  T-0  designs  mentioned  in  the  text 
pp.  577-8,  we  may  add; — another  in  St.  Isidore's  De  Natura 
lierum  (found  in  manuscripts  even  of  the  eighth  centuiy) ;  the 
Roda-Madrid  sketch  of  the  ninth  century  ;  the  Strassburg  of 
about  the  same  date  ;  the  St.  Omer  of  the  tenth  or  eleventh 
century ;  and  one  of  the  eleventh  century  in  Hermannus 
Contractus'  Chronicle  of  the  Six  Ages  of  the  World.  Besides 
these  there  are  eleven  lesser  sketches  from  various  manuscripts 
of  St.  Isidore's  Origins  or  Etymologies,  all  before  the  end  of  the 
thirteenth  century ;  a  description  of  a  X  Design  (illustrating 
the  Dicisio  Terrae)  in  Bede,  De  Natura  Rerum,  ch.  51,  which 
was  perhaps  accompanied  by  a  sketch  with  astronomical 
additions,  as  reproduced  in  Migne.  We  have  also  from  Baban 
Maur  [in  his  De  Universo,  xii.  2  ;  copying  Isidore,  Etymol., 
xiv.  2]  a  repetition,  not  schematic  but  descriptive,  of  the  chief 
Isidorian  plan  of  this  kind,  c  a.d.  844  ;  and  various  T  Maps 
in  Honorius  of  Autun,  in  Guido,  in  Lambert  of  St.  Omer, 
in  a  Mons  manuscript  of  Lucan's  Pharsalia,  in  Walter  of 
Metz,  and  in  Nikephoros  Blemmidas.  We  must  briefly  examine 
some  of  these. 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  629 

(1)  The  lesser  Isidore  X  maps  are  in  the  following  manu- 
scripts : — (a)  Paris,  Bib.  Nat.,  7683  Lat,  of  tenth  century ; 
(/>)  same  Libr.,  Bib.  Nat.,  Lat.  S.  G.,  538,  of  tenth  century 
(this  manuscript  contains  two  X  maps,  one  round,  one  square) ; 
(c)  Bib.  Nat.,  Lat,  Nav.,  87,  of  twelfth  century  ;  (d)  Bib. 
Nat.,  Lat.  7592,  of  eleventh  to  twelfth  centuries ;  (e)  Bib. 
Nat.,  Lat.  7590,  of  thirteenth  century  (this  manuscript  also 
contains  two  X  maps,  one  round,  one  square) ;  (/)  Bib.  Nat., 
reference  not  yet  known,  mentioned  by  Santarem,  Essai,  ii. 
284  ;  (f/)  Bib.  Nat.,  Nav.  6,  of  thirteenth  century.  Besides 
these  nine  Paris  manuscripts  (all  falling  within  the  period  a.d. 
900  to  12 GO),  there  are  two  in  (//),  a  manuscript  of  the  Library 
of  Metz,  of  thirteenth  century,  cf.  Santarem,  Essai  sur  .  .  . 
Cosmographie,  ii.  235-236,  283-284,  287  ;  iii.  505-506 ;  Otto's 
edition  of  Isidore,  p.  434,  dealing  with  Etymol.,  xiv.  2,  3  ;  and 
Riese,  Geograp7ii  Latini  Minores,  160,  on  the  Isidorian  X  sketches 
in  the  De  Natura  Rentm.  (2)  Santarem,  Essai  sur  .  .  .  Cosmo- 
(jraphie,  ii.  102,  refers  to  a  non-Isidorian  plan  of  this  kind,  but 
with  marked  peculiarities,  in  the  Paris  Bib.  Nat.,  Lat.  5371,  of 
eleventh  century.  (3)  Raban  Maur  merely  repeats  the  Isidorian 
data  relative  to  the  X~shaped  Divisio  Terrae ;  and  the  same  is 
true  of  (4)  the  Roda-Madrid  map,  except  that  the  latter  supplies 
a  ninth-century  sketch  instead  of  a  merely  descriptive  summary, 
and  adds,  upon  the  three  Continents,  that  Shem  received  the 
Temperate  Land,  Japheth  the  Cold,  Ham  the  Hot  [cf.  Santarem, 
Essai  sur  .  .  .  Cosmographie,  ii.  32].  (5)  The  ninth-century 
Strassburg  X  plan  [ni  the  Strassburg  MS.  numbered  c.  iv.  15]  is 
rather  more  elaborate,  from  a  geographical  point  of  view.  For  it 
attempts  a  rough  estimate  of  the  nomenclature  of  the  principal 
countries.  Thus,  for  instance,  Greece,  Italy,  Frisia,  Saxony, 
Germany,  Dacia,  Gothia,  and  Alamannia  are  found  in  Europe  ; 
the  Amazons  and  the  Moabites,  Paradise  and  Egypt,  India  and 
Galilee,  in  Asia ;  Carthage  and  Mauritania,  in  Africa,  Jeru- 
salem is  marked  by  a  Greek  cross,  but  is  not  at  the  centre 
of  the  circle.  (6)  The  St.  Omer  plan  comes  from  the  last  leaf 
of  a  manuscript  collection  of  homilies  written  about  990-1010. 
Besides  the  names  of  Europe  and  Africa,  we  find  here  England 
and  Hibernia,  Thule,  and  Scandinavia  \Scandzd\.  On  the  Strass- 
burg and  St.  Oiner  plans,  cf.  Mone,  in  Anzeiger fur  Kunde  d.  teutsch. 
Vorzeit,  1836,  p.  113,  Taf.  ii.  ;  Santarem,'  Essai,  ii.  81  ;  Lelewel, 
Geog.  Moyen  Age,  i.  49,  and  Atlas,  plate  vii.  The  map  is  in  the  St, 
Omer  MS.  No.  97.  (7)  Hermannus  Contractus  gives  us  only  ih.e 
simplest  kind  of  sketch,  with  '  Noachic '  description  ;  but  (8)  the 
Oxford  of  1110  [in  St.  John's  Coll.  Libr.,  Cod.  Membr.  fob,  xvii., 
folio  6  ;  cf.  Bevan  and  Pliillot,  Med.  Geog.,  xxxvi.]  is  veiy  notable, 


630  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

e.g.  for  its  Greek  words.  The  diameter  is  about  6  J  inches.  The 
Terrestrial  Paradise  does  not  appear.  Though  Africa  is  included 
under  Europe,  the  dividing  arm  of  sea  (Mediterranean)  is  given 
as  the  stem  of  the  X-  r4"he  number  of  32  races  given  in 
Armenia  by  this  map  may  be  compared  with  the  34  Albanian 
races  of  Orosius,  i.  2,  1,  and  the  32  Albanian  and  Armenian 
peoples  of  the  Anonymous  Ravennese,  ii.  12.  Perhaps  the  map 
was  primarily  intended  to  portray  the  72  races  of  'Greater  Asia,' 
the  27  races  of  Shem,  the  15  of  Japheth,  the  30  of  Ham,  the  33 
of  Armenia  (given  as  if  in  South  Asia),  Jerusalem  or  Sion,  the 
Cities  of  Refuge,  the  Tribes  of  Israel — 8  only  given — and  other 
favourite  mediaeval  traditions.  Also,  there  is  a  commencement  of 
a  Dwisio  A'postolorum ; — Paul  in  Athens,  Peter  in  Caesarea,  Andrew 
in  Achaia,  John  in  Ephesus.  The  72  races  of  Greater  Asia 
may  be  compared  with  Gervase  of  Tilbury,  Otia  Imperialia,  ii.  1, 
an  alteration  from  the  70  of  the  Mosaic  table.  But  the  most 
interesting  point  about  this  map  is  its  evidence  of  Hellenic  or 
Byzantine  authorship.  Anatole,  Mesembrios,  Disis  (i.e.  Svo-i?),  and 
Arcton  appear,  along  with  Latin  equivalents,  at  the  Cardinal  Points. 
Many  of  the  most  important  names  are  out  of  place  ;  thus  Constan- 
tinople is  in  Asia  Minor,  Athens  north-east  of  Jerusalem,  while 
Judaea,  Palestine,  and  Carthage  stand  in  adjoining  plots  of  what 
is  labelled  Europe,  but  Avhich  is  drawn  as  if  belonging  to  Africa, 
With  singular  perversity  Carthage  is  again  repeated  in  the 
extreme  north-west,  roughly  in  the  position  of  the  Pyrenees. 
(9)  Honorius  of  Autun's  Imago  Mundi  is  illustrated  by  a  few 
X  Maps  of  no  special  interest,  like  the  (10)  Guido  manuscripts  in 
Brussels  and  Florence,  (11)  some  of  the  codices  of  Lambert  of  St. 
Omer,  and  (12)  the  Moris  text  of  Lucan's  Pharsalia  [cf.  Santarem, 
Essai  sur  .  .  .  Cosmographie,  ii.  176,  229,  237  ;  Recherclies,  plate 
iii.  ;  Lelewel,  Geog.  Moyen  Age,  ii.  7  ;  and  Atlas,  plate  viii.] 
These  sketches  immediately  refer  to  the  Archetypal  passage  of 
Isidore,  Etymol,  xiv.  2,  3.  (13)  Walter  of  Metz,  who  about  1245 
wrote  a  poem  entitled  Liber  Mappae  Mundi,  or  Images  du  Monde 
in  5900  French  verses,  several  times  employs  the  X~0  scheme, 
but  in  the  rudest  manner ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  (14), 
Nikephoros  Bleminidas,  c.  a.d.  1250.  The  latter's  X  plan  (called 
by  Santarem  a  Sallust  map)  is  accompanied  by  short  Greek  in- 
dications designating  the  three  Continents  and  the  Nile,  and 
places  the  West  at  the  top.  [For  Nik.  Blem.,  see  Paris  Bib.  Nat., 
1414,  folio  3  ;  Santarem,  Essai  sur  .  .  .  Cosmographie,  ii.  245,  248- 
254,  275;  Spolm,  Ni~k.  Blem.  Opuse.,  1818;  for  Walter  of  Metz, 
see  Bib.  Nat.,  7991,  79,  29.  The  crucial  passage  for  X"0  carto- 
graphy is  Isidore,  Etymol.,  xiv.  2  ;  Orbem  dimidium  duae  tenent, 
Eumjpa  et  Africa,  alium  vera  dimidium  sola  Asia  :  sed  ideo  duae 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  631 

partes  factae  sunt,  quia  niter  utramque  ah  Oceano  Mare  Magnum 
ingreditur,  quod  eas  intersecat.  Quapropter  si  in  duos  partes, 
Urientis  et  Occident  is,  orbem  dicidas,  Asia  er it  in  una,  in  altera  vera 
Europa  et  Africa.] 

X. — As  to  the  Sallust  maps,  this  curious  little  family  of 
mediaeval  sketches  was  first  properly  noticed  in  its  various  con- 
nections by  AVuttke  ;  although  Spohu  had  already  drawn  attention 
to  some  of  them.  Lelewel,  Philippi,  and  Konrad  Miller  have 
somewhat  developed  the  study  of  this  group,  but  it  can  hardly 
be  doubted  that  it  is  capable  of  further  expansion.  As  yet  we 
know  of  eight  larger,  and  five  smaller,  Sallust  maps ;  of  the 
former  category,  five  only  fall  within  our  present  view.  The 
first  of  these  is  the  tenth-century  Leipzig ;  two  others,  one  of 
the  eleventh,  the  second  of  the  thirteenth  century,  are  now  in  the 
same  place  ;  the  remaining  two,  both  of  the  twelfth  century,  are 
at  present  in  the  Libraries  of  Florence  and  Gorlitz. 

The  oldest  example,  of  about  a.d.  980,  in  the  University 
Library  at  Leipzig,  occurs  in  a  fragment  of  a  manuscript  of 
the  Catilina  which  has  been  used  for  bookbinding.  It  is 
extremely  faded  and  difficult  to  read ;  but  the  traces  of  a 
rather  elaborate  city-picture  of  Rome,  some  smaller  sketches,  and 
various  names,  can  still  be  discerned.  This  map  conforms  to  the 
X~0  type,  places  the  East  at  the  top,  and  employs  the  Tanais 
and  Nile  in  the  division  of  continents.  It  was  first  noticed  by 
AVuttke,  Zur  Gesrhichte  der  Erdkunde  des  Mittelalters,  p.  6. 

The  Leipzig  of  the  eleventh  century  [City  Library,  MS.  No. 
xl,  once  the  property  of  St.  John  in  Magdeburg]  from  a  manu- 
script containing  not  only  Sallust,  but  Lucan  and  Capella,  is 
the  handsomest  of  all  the  Sallust  maps,  and  gives  pictures 
of  Rome,  Troy,  Babylon,  Carthage,  Cyrene,  and  Jerusalem. 
Among  mountains  the  Alps,  the  Lebanon,  the  Riphaean  Hills, 
the  Atlas,  and  the  Pyrenees  are  given ;  among  rivers  the  Nile, 
Tanais,  Danube,  and  Rhine ;  for  the  general  design  a  rather 
free  rendering  of  the  T-O  f°rm  *s  adopted  [cf.  Santarem,  Essai 
mr  .  .  .  Cosm.,  ii.,  93  :  Lelewel,  Atlas,  plate  ix.  ;  Wuttke, 
Zur  Gescliiclite  der  Erdkunde  ;  and  Serapeum  for  185o,  xiv.,  pp. 
261-270]. 

The  thirteenth-century  Leipzig  [City  Library,  No.  lxviii.]  is 
of  no  particular  interest,  but  appears  most  closely  related  to  the 
Gorlitz  example  of  the  twelfth  century,  which  is  one  of  the  best 
and  least  conventional  specimens  of  the  Sallust  type  [in  the 
Library  of  the  Oberlausitzische  Gesellschaft  at  Gorlitz],  with 
Jerusalem  nearer  to  a  central  position  than  in  the  earlier 
members  of  this  family. 


632  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

The  Florence  of  the  twelfth  century  [Bib.  Laur.,  Plut.  64, 
Cod.  18]  is  only  remarkable  for  its  clear  and  excellent  script, 
and  its  emphatic  indication  of  the  Four  Cardinal  Points.  Of 
the  lesser  Sallust  maps  nearly  all,  as  we  have  said  before,  are 
simple  X~0  sketches ;  one  is  of  the  tenth  century,  and  bears 
underneath  the  inscription,  'Julius,  the  Emperor,  divided  the 
whole  world  in  its  several  parts '  [particulatim]. 

Two  chief  branches  of  this  type  may  perhaps  be  traced  back 
earlier  than  the  tenth  century.  From  these  all  place-names  come, 
except  for  a  few  additions  of  later  date,  such  as  are  found  on  the 
eleventh-century  Leipzig,  and  the  twelfth-century  Florence. 

XL — In  1119  a  certain  Guido,  of  whom  nothing  more  is 
known,  compiled  a  work  of  extracts,  mainly  geographical,  in  six 
books.  The  first  of  these  contained  a  description  of  Italy,  with 
extracts  chiefly  from  the  Anonymous  Geographer  of  Ptavenna,  but 
also  from  the  Antonine  Itinerary  and  the  Notitia  Urbis.  The 
second  book  gave  only  extracts  from  Isidore  of  Seville  ;  while  the 
third,  dealing  with  the  general  geography  of  the  earth,  combined 
Isidorian  excerpts  \_Etymol.,  xiv.  3-5]  with  passages  from  the 
Bavennese.  The  last  three  books  gave  a  chronicle  reaching 
down  to  ad.  1108,  with  lists  of  the  Lombard,  Prankish,  and 
German  kings,  and  special  notices  of  the  deeds  of  the  Pisans  and 
Genoese  against  the  Saracens.  [See  Brussels,  Bib.  Burg.,  3897- 
3918  ;  Florence,  Codex  Biccardianus,  881,  mostly  written  a.d. 
1277-1280.  From  the  archetypal  passage  in  Isidore,  Etymol., 
xiv.  2,  3,  comes  folio  44  of  the  Brussels  manuscript,  and  folio  20 
of  the  Florence.] 

Two  of  the  existing  manuscripts  of  this  work  (those  at 
Brussels  and  Florence)  contain  map-pictures,  one  being  a  T-O 
map  of  Isidorian  type,  and  the  other  two  works  of  a  much  higher 
value.  These  last  are  only  found  in  the  Brussels  manuscript, 
and  are  devoted  respectively  to  Italy  and  the  World.  The 
world-map  belongs  to  the  passage  where  Guido  roughly  defines 
the  boundaries  of  the  three  Continents ;  it  is  coloured,  and 
measures  13  centimetres  across.  The  manuscript  once  belonged 
to  Cardinal  Nicholas  'of  Cusa,'  who  obtained  it  in  Italy,  and 
presented  it  to  a  hospital  which  he  founded  in  his  native  town  of 
Cues  on  the  Moselle.  Later  on  it  passed  through  the  hands  of 
the  Bollandists  into  the  '  Library  of  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy.'  The 
mappe-monde  is  perhaps  a  copy  of  a  larger  work,  of  which  a  piece 
is  better  represented  in  the  sectional  plan  of  Italy,  which  occurs 
in  the  same  manuscript.  For  the  most  part,  the  text  agrees  with 
Orosius,  the  Bavennese  Geographer,  and  Isidore  ;  but  the  names 
of  Barcelona,  L}Tons,  Samaria,  and  others  (which  do  not  occur  in 


THE    WORLD-MAP   OF  OUTDO.   C.    A.D.    111!». 


[  To  fact  p.  63S 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  633 

Guido's  chief  sources)  show  that  this  is  no  mere  illustration  of 
these  authors.  The  form  of  the  Mediterranean  is  very  peculiar, 
and  the  size  of  the  rivers  and  inland  waters  of  the  Continents  is 
more  exaggerated  than  in  almost  any  other  mediaeval  map.  The 
strange  triangular  formation,  in  which  the  Mediterranean  from 
one  side,  and  the  Black  Sea  and  iEgaean  from  another,  run  south- 
ward almost  to  the  Sea  of  ^Ethiopia,  naturally  affects  the  shape 
of  Africa,  whose  northern  coast  has  an  unusual  inclination  to 
the  south-east.  [For  the  world-map,  see  p.  547  in  Finder  and 
Parthey's  edition  of  the  Ravennese  Geographer  and  Guido,  and 
folio  51  verso,  of  the  Brussels  manuscript;  for  the  Italy,  p.  452  in 
Pinder  and  Parthey,  and  folio  1  verso,  of  the  Brussels  manuscript.] 

The  Italy  map,  giving  a  large  city-picture  of  Borne,  is  accom- 
panied by  square  indications  (as  if  taken  from  a  statistical  plan) 
of  the  neighbouring  Provinces,  from  Barcelona  to  Macedonia. 

Besides  these,  the  Brussels  manuscript  has  a  picture  of  an 
ancient  man  of  learning,  with  a  scroll  in  his  left  hand.  Some 
identify  this  with  Castorius,  some  with  the  Ravennese  Geographer, 
some  with  M.  Agrippa.  At  the  end  of  Guido's  Maritime 
Itinerary  (Book  iii.)  there  is  a  figure  of  Antonine,  also  with  the 
Cap  of  the  Learned  on  his  head,  and  sketches  of  Home,  Ravenna, 
the  Pharos  of  Alexandria,  Augustus,  and  Vespasian  with  a 
globe.  [These  additional  sketches  are  on  folios  6,  31,  32,  51, 
of  the  Brussels  manuscript,  cf.  Bethmann  in  Pertz,  Archiv., 
vii.  537-540  (1839) ;  Reiffenberg  in  Bulletin  de  I'Acaci.  Belg., 
1843,  x.  1,  468;  2,  73;  1844,  xi.  1,  15,  99;  Bock  in  Annuaire 
Bi/>.  Roy.  Belg.,  1851,  pp.  41-204  ;  Santarem,  Essai  sur  .  .  .  Cos- 
mographie,  ii.  212,  238,  and  Atlas;  Lelewel,  Geog.  Moyen  Age,  i. 
]>.  89,  and  Atlas,  plate  viii.,  figs.  29-30;  Philippi,  Zur  Rehonst. 
d.  Weltk.  d.  Agrippa,  1880,  Ta£,  i.  5.] 

XII. — On  the  Maclaba  map  ; — cf.  the  Revue  Bihlique  for  April, 
1897  ;  Germer-Durand,  La  Carte  Mosaique  de  Madaba,  Paris 
(Maison  de  la  bonne  Presse),  1897  ;  K.  Miller,  Rekondruierte 
Karten,  Arihang,  pp.  148-154,  1898  ;  A.  Schulten,  Die  Mosaik- 
karte  von  Madaba,  1900.  To  Father  Kleophas,  librarian  of  the 
Greek  Patriarch  at  Jerusalem,  the  discovery  and  preservation  of 
this  map  are  chiefly  due  ;  and  some  of  the  happiest  suggestions 
for  its  further  reconstruction  have  also  come  from  him.  The 
town  of  Madaba,  mentioned  by  Josephus,  Ptolemy,  and 
Stephanus  of  Byzantium,  lies  close  to,  a  little  south  of,  Hesh- 
bon,  but  south-east  of  Nebo  or  Pisgah,  and  on  the  Roman  Road 
which  came  south  from  Damascus,  passed  through  Rabbath 
Amnion  or  Philadelphia,  Heshbon,  Madaba,  Rabbath  Moab 
or  Areopolis,  and  Kerak,  and  ran  on  to  Petra  and  the  Red  Sea. 


634  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

At  Heshbon  it  crossed  the  Roman  Road  from  Jericho,  which 
ran  south-east  to  the  outposts  on  the  edge  of  the  desert. 

The  mountains  of  Palestine  in  this  Mosaic  are  marked  by 
variegated  lines.  The  Dead  Sea  here  is  remarkable  for  its  ex- 
aggerated size,  its  blue  wave-lines,  and  the  two  great  ships  that 
float  upon  its  waters.  In  the  Jordan  and  the  Nile  swim  fishes  ; 
a  piece  of  the  Arabian  Gulf  is  indicated  in  the  extreme  south. 
In  the  desert  fringing  Palestine  and  Egypt  the  oases  are  marked 
by  palms ;  in  the  desert  itself  lions  pursue  gazelles.  Among 
other  features,  the  Serbonian  Bog  between  Palestine  and  Egypt 
is  marked. 

Out  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  only  six  can  still  be  found 
— Dan,  Symeon,  Juda,  Ephraim,  Benjamin,  and  Zabulon — and 
several  of  these  survive  in  a  very  fragmentary  state.  In  con- 
nection with  Dan,  the  apostrophe  of  Deborah  from  Judges  v. 
17,  is  (juoted  (tW  rl  —apocKet  ttXolols  ;)  as  to  Benjamin,  the 
blessing  of  Moses  from  Dent,  xxxiii.  12  is  given  (a-Kuifa  6  8[eo]^ 
£77-'  (/.rTfp,  kclI  dva  jxka-ov  tmv  6p[(jji'  uvtov  K(i.Teivav(T^v\  probably 
in  allusion  to  the  holy  city,  lying  as  it  did  within  the  territory, 
but  on  the  frontier,  of  Benjamin.  Ephraim  is  associated  with 
the  blessing  of  Jacob  upon  Joseph,  from  Gen.  xlix.  25,  and 
with  that  of  Moses  upon  the  tribe  of  Ephraim  from  Deut.  xxxiii. 
13  ('Iwo~//<£  .  .  .  ei'A6y?ycrei/  ere  o  Geo?  evXoyiav  yrj?  e^oiV^s  iravra 
ko.I  irdXw  a7ro  evAoyta?  Kv[/3iov]  rj  yrj  avrov).  As  for  Zahulon, 
there  now  only  remain  five  letters  from  a  clause  of  the  prophecy 
of  Jacob  in  Gen.  xlix.  13  ;  but  the  whole  sentence  was  fortunately 
copied   before   this   piece   of    the    mosaic   perished  :    Za/Sovkdn' 

TrapdXtos   KarotKyaeL,    i<al   —a.pa.Ti.ve.1  ecu?    -iSon'os.       The    remaining 

details  of  the  map  may  be  dealt  with  under  the  tribes  above 
mentioned,  under  the  trans-Jordan  region,  and  under  Lower 
Egypt  and  Sinaitic  Arabia. 

In  the  territory  of  Dan,  Modeim  or  Moditha,  'whence  came 
the  Maccabees ' ;  Anob  or  Betoannaba,  the  Nob  of  Saul,  accord- 
ing to  St,  Jerome  ;  Lod,  Lydda,  or  Diospolis  ;  Geth  or  Gath, 
'  one  of  the  five  satrapies  of  former  days ' ;  Ashdod  in  the  upland  ; 
and  Azotus  on  the  sea,  are  the  leading  places  indicated. 

In  Benjamin,  the  plan  of  Jerusalem  naturally  occupies  the 
chief  place,  Here  the  most  prominent  feature  is  the  great 
street  flanked  by  colonnades  which  runs  across  the  city  from 
the  north  gate  to  the  south ;  before  the  north  gate  there  seems 
to  be  a  paved  square,  and  on  it  a  column,  recalling  the  modern 
title  of  'Gate  of  the  Pillar.'  A  second  colonnade  street  runs 
from  this  north  gate  to  the  suuth-east,  crosses  a  lesser  artery 
which  enters  from  the  eastern  gate,  and  then  proceeds  due 
south,  just  within  the  east  wall,  and  parallel  to  the  main  street. 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  635 

These  two  roads  are  marked  all  along  by  the  covered  galleries 
or  colonnades  already  noticed,  and  probably  correspond  to  the 
Si'o  Srjfxocria,  the  two  markets  or  bazaars,  mentioned  in  an  Arab 
account  of  the  Persian  storm  of  614.  Three  gates  are  indicated, 
to  north,  east,  and  west ;  the  first  two  being  apparently  of  much 
greater  size  and  importance  than  the  third,  which  has  rather  the 
appearance  of  a  postern.  To  the  south,  at  the  end  of  the 
great  centre  colonnade,  appears  what  is  probably  the  Church 
of  Holy  Sion  or  the  Coenaculum  ;  at  the  north-east  extremity 
of  the  city  is  another  church,  perhaps  that  of  the  Nativity 
of  the  Virgin  (now  '  St.  Anne ') ;  while  beyond  the  walls,  to  the 
east,  is  the  Church  of  Gethsemane  and  the  Virgin's  Tomb.  The 
territory  of  Benjamin  appears  undamaged  upon  this  map  ;  and 
the  localities  of  Jericho,  surrounded  by  palm-trees,  in  the  midst 
of  which  appears  the  'sanctuary  of  Elisha' ;  of  Ephrata,  'where 
the  Lord  journeyed';  of  iElamon,  'where  the  moon  stood  still 
at  the  bidding  of  the  son  of  Nave ' ;  of  Bethabara,  with  the 
Convent  of  St  John  Baptist ;  of  Rama  and  Gabaon  ;  and  of 
two  road-stations  respectively  called  'the  fourth'  and  'the  ninth' 
(to  T€TapTov  .  .  .  to  ewa[rovJ), — appear  together  with  a  few  less 
important  spots.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  likenesses  with  St. 
Jerome's  topographical  indications  are  very  marked  ;  those  with 
Eusebius,  Jerome's  master  in  Palestine  geography,  being  some- 
what less  close  than  in  other  places. 

In  Epliraim,  part  of  the  space  (e.g.  around  Nablus)  has 
perished ;  on  what  remains  we  have  iEnon,  '  near  to  Salem '  : 
Silo,  '  where  stood  the  ark ' ;  the  tomb  of  Joseph  :  the  well  of 
Jacob;  'Garizim';  and  Sichem,  'otherwise  Sikima  and  Salem  '  (an 
exact  repetition  of  a  peculiar  notice"  in  Eusebius'  Onomasticori). 
Like  the  latter,  again,  the  map  places  the  mountains  of  blessing 
and  cursing  near  Jericho,  though  it  has  alreadjr  marked  them 
in  the  right  position  near  Nablus.  The  Aramaic  term  of  'tur,' 
or  mountain  (Tovp),  is  annexed  to  both  Yapt(ijx  and  Tw/Sv/A, 
Gerizim  and  Ebal.  The  towns  of  Theraspis  and  Betomelgesis, 
apparently  assigned  to  Epliraim  by  the  present  design,  are 
unique  ;  no  trace  of  them  has  elsewhere  been  found. 

In  Zabulon  nothing  remains  beyond  what  has  been  already 
noticed;  but  in  Symeon  we  have  Gerara,  'once  a  royal  city  of 
the  Philistines  and  southern  limit  of  the  Canaanites.'  "Kv9a  rb 
YepapLTiKov  (rdXrov,  here  is  the  wood  [?]  of  Gerara,  adds  the  map, 
which  also  gives,  in  the  territory  of  this  tribe,  Arad,  'whence 
came  the  Aradians,'  and  Asemona,  'a  town  of  the  desert  on 
the  frontier  of  Egypt,'  Arad  is  the  Adar  of  the  Vulgate,  and 
Jethor,  or  Jethera,  to  the  west  of  it,  is  the  .Tether  of  the 
Onoinasticon,  which  notes  it  as  wholly  inhabited  by  Christians. 


636  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

In  the  west  of  the  land  of  Symeou,  the  mosaic  records  several 
peculiar  names  (Edrain,  Sobila,  Seana,  and  Bethagidea ;  cf.  the 
Edrai-Bethaglaim  of  Eusebins). 

In  Juda  much  of  the  original  detail  has  been  lost,  but  to 
the  south  of  Jerusalem  is  Akeldama,  which  is  placed  considerably 
to  the  north  of  the  common  or  traditionary  site,  supported  by 
St.  Jerome ;  the  unusual  position  is  no  doubt  due  to  Eusebius, 
whose  language  here  agrees  with  the  map.  Bethlehem  Ephrata, 
Kama,  Bethsura  (of  the  Maccabees),  the  Church  of  St.  Philip 
near  the  fountain  where  he  baptised  the  Ethiopian,  the  terebinth- 
oak  of  Mamre  near  Hebron,  Ascalon,  Gaza,  and  Beersheba,  or 
Berossaba,  are  the  chief  Judaean  names  ;  and  '  so  far,'  says  the  map 
of  the  last-mentioned,  '  came  southward  the  limits  of  Judaea,  even 
from  Dan,  near  Paneas,  which  is  the  border  in  the  north.' 
Gaza  and  Ascalon,  though  fragmentary,  are  evidently  planned 
as  large  towns,  and  a  good  deal  of  these  city-pictures  still 
remain.  Beyond  the  Jordan  appear  iEnon,  '  now  Saj^saphas ' ; 
the  Baths  of  Kallirrhoe,  marked  as  three  in  number ;  Kerak  of 
Moab  [Kp]ax/-iw/ia,  on  a  height,  as  in  nature ;  Betomarsea, 
'otherwise  Maiumas,'  found  only  in  this  mosaic;  Aia,  perhaps 
the  Aie  of  the  Onomasticon,  the  ancient  Rabbath  Moab,  the 
Greek  Areopolis  ;  and  Balak,  '  or  Zoora,'  to  the  south  of  the 
Dead  Sea  (Lot's  Zoar).  The  principal  inscription  of  this  part 
refers  to  the  same  Dead  Sea,  also  called  the  Salt  or  Asphaltic 
Lake,  whose  enormous  size  and  detailed  execution  suggest  that 
it  was  well  known  to  the  designer.  Finally,  in  Lower  Egypt 
and  the  desert  of  Sinai  are  a  number  of  places  and  legends. 
Among  these  are  'the  Desert  where  the  brazen  serpent  healed 
the  Israelites ' ;  '  the  Desert  of  Sin,  where  the  manna  was  sent 
down  and  the  quail  [sic]  ' ;  and  Raphidim,  '  where  Israel  fought 
Amalek.' 

According  to  a  tradition  at  Madaba  itself,  the  map,  when 
first  uncovered,  had  a  picture  of  the  holy  family  flying  into 
Egypt,  not  along  the  coast  as  in  later  stories,  but  well  inland 
across  the  desert.  Pthinocorura  and  several  towns  lie  on  the  edge 
of  a  curiously  exaggerated  stream  marked  as  the  frontier  of  Egypt 
and  Palestine ;  in  the  Delta,  Pelusium,  though  in  fragments, 
appears  as  a  city  of  great  size  and  splendour,  second  only  to 
Jerusalem  ;  Tanis,  Sais,  Xois,  Athribis,  Hermoupolis,  and  five 
other  Egyptian  towns  are  also  figured. 

XIII. — As  to  the  Situs  Hierusalem ; — Fulcher  of  Chartres 
(born  1048),  accompanied  the  First  Crusade,  and  described  it,  in 
the  course  of  a  narrative  ending  in  112G;  but  long  before  this 
extracts  from  his  record  must  have  found  their  way  into  "Western 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  637 

Europe.  Thus,  the  text  of  the  Gesta  Francorum  (1095-1106),  is 
for  the  most  part  in  close  agreement  with  Fulcher,  and  often 
scarcely  more  than  an  excerpt  from  him.  It  also  agrees  closely 
with  the  Plan  of  Jerusalem,  which  we  have  iioav  to  consider;  but 
in  the  topography  of  the  Holy  City  neither  the  Gesta  nor  the 
Situs  are  in  accord  with  Fulcher.  It  is  clear  that  the  chronicler 
of  Chartres  is  not  acquainted  with  this  map,  which  has  been  termed 
'  certainly  older '  than  the  Anonymous  Gesta,  but  really  seems  to 
have  been  draughted  at  the  very  same  time  that  the  Gesta  was 
being  written  (1099-1 1  (19).  The  latter  can  hardly  be  brought  later 
than  1109  ;  for  the  chronicler  finishes  his  work  before  Tripoli  had 
fallen  into  the  power  of  the  Christians  (1109).  So  far  as  the  two 
difler,  the  Situs  is  plainly  the  original,  and  the  Gesta  the  deriva- 
tive, as  is  shown  by  the  far  richer  content  of  the  map,  and  by 
some  of  its  legends,  neither  referred  to  nor  explained  in  the  Deeds 
of  the  Franks  who  took  Jerusalem.  [The  Anonymous  Author 
of  the  latter  prefaces  his  description  of  Jerusalem  as  follows  : — ■ 
'Situs  ipse  Ciuitatis  Sanctae,  qui  nunc  est,  murorumque  ambitus, 
licet  a  prisca  et  illustri  veteris  compositione  .  .  .  valde  discrepet, 
quaedam  tamen  teviporis  illius  [Xti]  adhuc  monumenta  continet, 
quibus  .  .  .  prae  cunctis  clarior  cicitatibus  .  .  .  esse  debet  .  .  . 
cf.  the  edition  in  Eecueil  dex  Historiens  des  Croisades  orientaux, 
torn.  Hi.,  Paris,  1866,  p.  487  etc.]. 

Eight  copies  of  the  former  are  known,  of  which  only  three  are 
of  much  importance,  namely  at  St.  Omer,  at  Brussels,  and  at 
Copenhagen.  The  first  of  these,  of  the  twelfth  century,  is  from 
a  manuscript  containing  the  Anonymous  Gesta.  The  map  is  on 
folio  15;  cf.  Zeitschrift  d.  deutscli.  Pal.-Vereins,  xv.,  Taf.,  1-5; 
p.  510,  etc.,  1892.  The  second  is  bound  up  with  the  writings  of 
Fulcher  On  the  Deeds  of  the  Pilgrims,  and  of  Robert  the  Monk, 
On  the  Occupation  of  Jerusalpm.  This  example,  like  the  former, 
shows  us  at  the  top  of  the  sheet  the  whole  course  of  the  Jordan, 
with  a  number  of  other  place-names  taken  from,  or  at  least 
agreeing  with,  the  ordinary  description  of  Jerusalem,  but  some- 
times wrongly  placed.  These,  perhaps,  result  from  compression, 
and  refer  us  to  a  wider  original.  At  the  end  of  the  3 1st  chapter  of 
the  Gesta,  the  Anonymous  Author  says,  '  Nazareth  autem  uoi  con- 
ceptus  est  [Xtus,]  et  Galilea  et  Mare  Tyberiadis,  et  Mons  TJtabor  .  .  . 
longe  a  Hierusalem  remota  sunt.'  It  is  just  these  places  (excepting 
'  Galilee  ')  which  are  here  interpolated  without  anjT  particular  con- 
nection. 

The  Copenhagen  copy,  of  the  thirteenth  century,  is,  like 
its  predecessors,  a  work  of  art,  but  has  a  much  scantier  content. 
It  comes  from  an  Icelandic  manuscript  in  the  Danish  Royal 
Library,  No.  736,  4  b.  ;   cf.  Lelewel,  Geog.  Moyen  Age,  ii.  4,  and 


638  APPENDIX    OX    MAPS 

n.  o.  Among  the  five  later  copies  of  the  Situs  the  chief  are 
Count  Riant's  and  the  Montpellier  example  [Montpellier  Library, 
Cod.  H.,  142,  folio  67]  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  former 
is  perhaps  transcribed  from  a  Florentine  manuscript,  older  than 
any  now  existing.  The  city  of  Masphat,  here  both  pictured 
and  named,  appears  without  name  on  our  other  transcripts, 
which  are  all  executed  with  less  care  than  this.  Some  of  its 
legends  outside  the  city  appear  to  be  additions  of  the  copyist, 
and  remind  us  of  the  twelfth-century  pilgrim,  John  of  TTurzburg 

(c.  A.D.  1165). 

The  Montpellier  copy  is  in  a  manuscript  which  contains  the 
anonymous  Gesta,  but  the  map  itself  is  fitted  into  the  text  of 
Petrus  Tudebodus,  Historia  de  Hierosolimitano  itinere,  xiv.  1. 
Here  the  older  or  round  form  of  the  city-plan  is  made  square, 
and  the  North  is  at  the  top,  both  signs  of  later  authorship. 

The  other  copies  are  of  little  interest ;  the  twelfth-century 
Stuttgart  (which  alone  contains  Magdalum)  is  probably  a  copy 
of  the  Brussels  manuscript.  It  is  also  similar  to  the  St.  Omer 
copy,  and  may  conceivably  have  been  transcribed  from  a  common 
original.  Very  different  from  all  the  tj-pes  of  the  Situs  hitherto 
noticed  are  two  other  copies; — one  at  Cambrai,  of  about  1180, 
whose  shape  is  square;  and  one  in  London,  of  about  1200, 
which  is  round. 

XIV. — Of  Matthew  Paris  map-workthe  chief  manuscripts  are ; — ■ 
(1)  Cambridge,  C.C.C.,  xxvi.  [  =  earlier  cix.]  of  thirteenth  century ; 
the  Map  of  Palestine  is  on  folio  3  b.  (coloured) ;  the  mappe-monde 
is  at  the  end  of  this  manuscript,  (2)  In  the  Brit.  Mus.  ; — Cotton 
MSS.,  Nero,  D.  v.  (with  the  loorld-map  on  folio  1),  perhaps  a  copy 
of  the  Corpus  MS.  (3)  Ibid,  Cotton,  Claudius  D.  vi.,  with  the  Pilg. 
[tin.  on  folios  2-5,  the  Situs  Brit,  on  folio  6,  the  most  finished 
England  on  folio  8.  (4)  Ibid,  Beg.  1-4,  C.  vii.  (2),  with  England  on 
folio  5,  verso.     All  these  are  manuscripts  of  the  Historia  Minor. 

(5)  Ibid,  Cotton,  Nero,  D.  i.,  is  the  chief  manuscript  of  the 
Historia  S.  Albani :  on  folios  183,  184  is  part  of  the  Pilg.  Bin.  : 
on  folio  185  a  chart  of  the  winds  ;  on  folio  187  the  Schema  Brit. 

(6)  For  another  form  of  the  Map  of  Palestine  and  the  first 
England  cf.  Cambridge,  C.C.C.,  MS.  xvi.  [  =  earlier  cv.].  (7) 
Brit.  Mus.,  Cotton,  Julius  D.  vii.,  folio  49,  verso,  has  an  interest- 
ing and  advanced  form  of  Matthew's  England. 

The  colouring  of  the  mappe-monde  is  mostly  red  for  place- 
names,  except  those  in  the  Mediterranean,  such  as  Tyre,  which 
lie  to  the  right  of  the  Adriatic  :  these  are  black.  Mountains  are 
portrayed  in  ochre,  rivers  in  blue,  for  the  most  part ;  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea  in  green, 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  639 

The  inscription  about  the  three  world-maps  is  as  follows  : 
Summatim  facta  est  dispositio  Mappa-Mundi  Magistri  Rober[ti]  de 
Melkeleia  et  Mappa-Mundi  de  Wattham.  Mappa-Mundi  D\omi~\ni 
Regis  quidem  \sic\  est  in  camera  sua  apud  Westmonasteriumfigurcitur 
inordine[y.\.,  <yrdinal%\  Mathei  deParisio.  .  .  .  Figuratur  in  eodem 
ordine  .  .  .  quasi  [ciamis]  chlamys  externa.  Talis  est  scema 
nostre\ae~\  partis  Habitabilis,  secundum  pMlosophos,  scilicet  quarta 
pars  terre\ae],  que\ae\  est  triangularis  fere :  corpus  terre[ae] 
SP[H]ERICUM  est.  The  chief  peculiarity  in  the  natural 
features  of  the  map  is  the  broad  arm  of  sea  running  west  from  the 
Euxine.  The  Palus  Maeotis  is  represented  by  two  lakes  near  the 
North  Ocean,  into  which  they  throw  a  river.  Many  unnamed 
rivers  occur  in  Europe  ;  the  only  ones  named  are  Rhone,  Danube, 
and  '  El  pie '  (Scheldt).  For  contemporary  names,  cf.  Hungaria, 
Polonia,  Austria,  Saxonia,  Bavaria,  Theutonia,  Braibe  (for 
Brabant) ;  Dacia  (for  Denmark) ;  and  the  towns  of  Cologne,  Pisa, 
Bologna,  and  Janua  (Genoa). 

The  text  has  some  resemblance  to  the  Hereford  and  Ebstorf 
maps  (especially  the  latter),  and  to  Lambert  of  St.  Omer,  Henry 
of  Mainz,  the  Psalter,  and  the  '  Cottoniana.'  Most  of  the  newer 
names  may  be  found  on  Ebstorf,  as,  for  instance,  Holland, 
Burgundy,  Flanders,  Austria,  Poland,  Venice,  Bavaria,  '  Metis,' 
'  Hierapolis,'  'Teutonia  '  ;  but,  after  all,  the  great  mass  of  name- 
forms  in  this  mappe-monde  are  old. 

The  form  of  the  design  is,  on  the  contrary,  novel  and  peculiar, 
it  has  some  relation  to  Henry  of  Mainz  and  Lambert  of  St.  Omer  ; 
— the  former  of  whom  is  not  unlike  Matthew  in  his  islands,  his 
Italy,  and  his  Balkan  Peninsula  with  its  curious  western  pro- 
jection ;  while  the  latter  gives  a  similar  course  to  the  Danube 
rloAving  into  the  North  Sea  ;  but  the  present  scheme  must  not  be 
regarded  as  a  derivative  of  either  of  these,  but  rather  as  itself  a 
stem-form  not  directly  borrowed  from  any  other  plan  that  has 
come  down  to  us. 

There  are,  as  we  have  seen,  no  fewer  than  four  copies  of 
Matthew's  Engl  ami  in  the  manuscripts  : — (1)  Cambridge,  O.C.C., 
xvi.  [  =  earlier  CV.].  (2)  London,  Brit.  Mus.,  Pi  eg.,  14,  C.  vii., 
folio  5,  verso.  (3)  Brit,  Mus.,  Cotton  MSS.,  Claudius,  D.  vi., 
folio  8;  on  these  three,  cf.  Gougli,  Brit.  Top.,  i.,  61-64,  66-71, 
and  plates  ii.,  iii.,  and  iv.  (4)  Cotton,  Julius,  D.  vii.,  folio 
4<>  ;  this  has  been  much  damaged  by  verdigris.  The  first  and 
second  copies  (Cambridge  and  King's  Library)  both  contain  a. 
similar  note,  Hunt  Librum  dedit,  etc.  ;  both  manuscripts 
probably  belonged  to  the  Monastery  of  St.  Albans  ;  and  after 
Matthew's  death,  this  note  was  inserted  in  both  by  the  same 
scribe.     The  Cambridge  copy  is  certainly  not  from  any  of  the 


640  APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 

London  examples.  It  is  much  richer  in  content  than  one  of  its 
rivals  (the  King's  Library  map),  and  in  various  ways  shows  some- 
thing of  original  work.  We  may  therefore  suppose  that  it  also 
comes  from  Matthew's  hand.  It  exists  on  a  mutilated  leaf,  of 
which  the  lower  third  is  wanting.  Its  measurements  are  23  by 
23.5  centimetres  ;  its  execution  is  careful,  and  its  detail  is  ample  ; 
but  in  all  respects  it  is  inferior  to  the  Cotton  redactions.  The 
King's  Library  example  is  a  rougher  draught,  without  any  orna- 
mental border,  and  with  little  more  than  half  the  names  of  the 
Cotton.  It  is  all  in  black  except  the  sea,  which  is  green ;  the 
execution  is  rather  careless ;  the  measurements  are  35  by  23 
centimetres. 

The  third  or  Cotton  form  of  Matthew's  England  is  the  best 
and  most  complete.  The  execution  is  admirable,  the  colouring- 
detailed  and  systematic.  The  sea  on  west  and  east  is  green,  like 
the  inland  gulfs  and  salt  waters  ;  the  rivers  are  blue  or  red ;  the 
province-divisions  are  marked  (in  some  cases)  in  red  and  blue ; 
the  mountains  and  Roman  walls  (of  Hadrian  and  the  Antonines) 
are  yellow ;  the  legends  and  inscriptions  are  by  turns  red  and 
black.  To  the  north  the  sea  has  been  left  uncoloured.  At  the 
edges  this  map  is  somewhat  bent  inwards,  and  on  the  left  border 
something  has  been  cut  away. 

As  to  the  so-called  Itinerary  to  the  Holy  Land,  the  London 
MS.,  Reg.  14,  C.  vii.,  folios  2-5,  gives  the  complete  Itinerary  to 
Apulia.  Here  the  distance  between  the  stations  is  usually  called 
jumee ;  cf.  Gough,  Brit.  Tqpog.,  p.  85,  plate  vii.  (for  the  English 
part)  ;  Lelewel,  Atlas,  Tab.  24  ;  Catalogue  Brit.  Mus.  MSS.,  p. 
14  ;  Jomard,  Monuments  de  la  Gfeog.,  Tab.  v.  1,  2,  3  [but  Jomard 
wrongly  calls  this  a  pilgrimage-map  of  1318].  The  Cotton  MS., 
Nero,  I),  i.,  folio  183-184,  though  without  the  map  of  Palestine, 
gives  the  same  matter  as  the  seven  pages  of  the  Reg.  MS. 
The  Cambridge  MS.,  C.C.C.  xxvi.,  supplies  the  title  of  Stationes 
a  Londinio  ad  Hierasalem,  and  on  folio  3  b.,  a  sketch  in 
colours  of  the  Holy  Land  [cf.  Gough,  Brit.  Topog.,  p.  85, 
plate  vii.,  2].  The  Cambridge  MS.,  C.C.C.  xvi.,  has  on  folio  5  a 
rich  '  station '  map  of  Palestine  in  colours.  The  London  Cotton 
MS.,  Tiberius,  E.  vi.  (of  thirteenth  century)  would  be  valu- 
able from  its  age,  if  not  ruined  by  fire;  its  map  of  Palestine 
in  colour  is  on  folio  2.  The  Brit.  Mus.  Lansdowne  MS.,  253,  is 
only  a  copy  of  the  sixteenth  century  in  the  handwriting  of 
Camden,  the  antiquary ;  the  whole  Itinerary  is  on  folios 
228-231. 

For  Matthew's  map  of  Palestine  cf.  the  edition  of  the  text  by 
Michelant  and  Raynaud,  Soc.  de  V Orient  Latin,  Serie  Geo- 
graphique,    iii.    123-139    (1882).      Two    redactions    are    distin- 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS  641 

guished  by  these  editors,  who  regard  Matthew's  authorship  as 
certain. 

XV. — Among  the  remaining  and  least  important  maps  of 
this  period  there  is  a  little  sketch  which  perhaps  should 
be  associated  with  the  T-O  designs.  This  is  the  work  of 
Asaph  the  Jew,  and  is  of  the  eleventh  century ;  it  is  the  last 
of  twenty  figures  of  cosmographical  or  astronomical  significance. 
The  three  Continents  are  roughly  sketched,  separated  by  the 
Mare  Mains  or  Mediterranean,  the  Tanais  or  Don,  and  the 
Nile  ;  they  are  of  nearly  equal  size  ;  but,  as  in  Pliny,  Europe  is 
slightly  the  largest,  Africa  the  smallest.  Here,  therefore,  we 
have  another  example  of  the  Triquetra  or  Trifaria  Divisio,  of 
which  we  have  already  heard  so  much.  The  Arabic  influence  in 
this  work  is  clearly  shown  by  the  position  of  the  south  as  the 
primary  quarter,  at  the  top  of  the  map.  The  original  is  in  Paris, 
Bib.  Nat,,  MSS.,  Lat.,  No.  4764 ;  cf.  Santarem,  Essai  sur  .  .  . 
Cosmo<jraphie,  i.  54,  319-321. 

There  are  certain  representations  of  the  world  on  the  coins  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  which  also  call  for  a  brief  remark  ;  though  they 
are  perhaps  less  frequent  during  this  later  period  than  at  an 
earlier  time,  when  classical  conceptions  exercised  a  more  direct 
influence.  Under  the  Old  Empire  the  globular  form  of  the  earth 
was  clearly  realised  and  often  portrayed.  Surmounted  by  a 
cross  this  globe  first  appears  on  the  coins  of  Valentinian  III.,  in 
the  fifth  century ;  and  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  we  have 
the  same  expressed  on  Merovingian  money.  Thus  Theodebert  I. 
[d.  539],  Theodebert  II.,  and  Childerich  [d.  674]  offer  good 
examples ;  and  on  the  seals  of  various  mediaeval  emperors 
(among  them  Charles  IV.  and  Wenzel)  and  of  certain  kings, 
such  as  William  the  Conqueror  of  England  (and  Normandy), 
the  same  is  expressed. 

The  lost  maps  of  this  period  are  doubtless  numerous,  though 
perhaps  not  in  so  great  proportion  as  in  the  former  period  [a.d. 
300-900].  Among  these  we  may  notice  the  following,  some  of 
a  rather  traditional  character. 

The  famous  Gerbert,  afterwards  Pope  Sylvester  II.,  tells  us  in 
his  letters  (under  the  date  of  about  983)  that  he  had  caused  a  map 
to  be  painted  [cf.  Gerbert's  Letters,  No.  148.  We  may  add, 
though  it  belongs  to  the  previous  period,  that  the  Abbey  of 
Reichenau  possessed  a  still  more  ancient  Mappa-Mundi,  in  two 
rolls  ('  Rotuli ') ;  so  Regimbert's  Catalogue  of  the  Abbey  Library 
declared  about  a.d.  842  ;  cf.  Neugart,  Ep.  Const.,  i.  1,  540]. 
The  Catalogue  of  the  Munich  Library  contains  vague  references 

2  s 


642 


APPENDIX    ON    MAPS 


to  several  maps  now  unknown,  two  at  Tegernsee,  and  one  at 
Werinher  among  others  [cf.  Munich  Library,  Codex  Teg., 
541  ;  the  Munich  Catalogue  of  a.d.  1500-1504,  marked  as  Cod. 
476  of  the  same  library,  folio  159  (mentioning  a  map  marked 
B  47)  ;  K.  Miller,  Weltkarte  des  Castorius,  p.  9 ;  Serapeum, 
1841,  pp.  248-268.  Albert  the  Great,  De  Natura  Locorum, 
iii.  1,  declares  nos  etiam  brevem  orbis  mappam  liuic  open 
adiungemus ;  but  this  has  not  yet  been  found].  Also  the 
Monastery  of  Weihenstephan,  according  to  a  book-list  of  the 
twelfth  century,  possessed  a  mappe-monde,  which  may  have 
passed  into  some  great  library. 


ADDITIONAL    NOTE    TO    PAGE    391. 


As  to  the  names  of  Carpini  and 
Rubruquis  : — the  former  in  Latin  is 
usually  Johannes  de  Piano  Carpini  ; 
emended  forms,  Carpinis  or  de  Car- 
pine,  are  suggested  by  the  editors 
of  Analecta  Franciscana  (iii.  266). 
Planum  Carpinis  or  Planum  Carpi  is 
the  Latin  form  of  Pian  di  Carpiua,  the 
modern  [Pian  la]  Magione,  about  14 
miles  from  Perugia  ;  cf.  F.  Liverani, 
Giovanni  di  Piano  di  Carpine,  Siena, 
1878.  Rubruquis'  name,  in  five  MSS. 
used  by  Michel  and  Wright  in  Keceuil 


text  of  the  Paris  Geographical  Society, 
1839,  is  spelt  Rub  rue  or  Rubruk.  He 
was  probably  a  native  of  Rubrouck, 
in  old  French  Flanders.  As  to 
Asceliu's  journey,  Simon  of  St. 
Quentin's  account  is  in  Vincent  of 
Beauvais,  Spec.  Hist.,  xxxi.  Cahun, 
Introd.  a  VHistoire  de  VAsie,  p.  350, 
suggests  that  in  destruction  of  Kiev 
and  its  trade  Mongols  acted  partly 
under  influence  of  Venetians,  jealous 
of  competition  with  their  Black  Sea 
and  Crimean  commerce. 


SHORT    INDEX    OF    NAMES 


Abderrahman  III.,  Caliph  of  Cor- 
dova, 493,  495,  496 
Abraham,  244 
Abraham  ben  Chija,  224 
Abraham  ben  Meir  ben  Ezra,  224 
Abraham  Halevi  ben  David  [Daud], 

224 
Abulfeda,  7,  451 
Aehardns  of  Arroasia,  207 
Adalbert.  Archbishop  of  Bremen, 

70,  72,  515-521,  532 
Adamatns  of  Salerno,  517 
Adam   of  Bremen,  9,  71,  111,  465, 

466,  482,  514-548,  561 
Adam  of  Paris,  514 
Adelard  of  Bath,  4,  9,  183 
Adelheid,  Queen  of  Hungary,  483 
Adehvard,  Bishop,  522,  545 ;  Dean. 

522 
Aderneseh,  504,  509 
Adhemar  of  Chafanais,  127 
Adolf  of  Cologne,  196 
Adosinda,  Queen,  550 
Alfred  the  Great,  114,  119,  523,  543, 

546,  560 
^Ethelred   II.   of  England,  85,  86, 

87 
^Ethelstan  [and  Sighelm],  119 
^Ethieus  of  Istria,  545,  566 
Alaeddin  Kaikobad,  Sultan,  447 
Alberic,  the  friar,  277 
Alberic  Trois-Fontaines,  275,  342 
Albert,  Papal  Notary,  589 
Albert  us  Magnus,  Albert  of  Ball- 

stadt,  9,  466,  547 
Albiruni,  14 
Alcuin,  550 

Aldobrandini,  House  of  the,  447 
Alebrand,  Bisho]),  518 
Alexander  III.,  Pope,  231 


Alexander  the  Great  of  Macedon, 

261 
Alexander,  the  friar,  277 
Alexander  Nevski   of  Russia,  312, 

313 
Alexius   Comnenus,   147,   180,    402, 

427,  499 
Alfonso  VI.,  136,  177 
Al  Heravi  of  Herat,  13 
Al-Mamun,  Caliph,  120,  183 
Almanzor,  135 
'Aloha,'  316 

Amain,  trade  of,  396-400 
Amalrich,    Amalric,    or    Amaury, 

King  of  Jerusalem,  197,  198;  'of 

Ascalon,'  428,  429 
Anastasius  I.,  Pope,  120 
Anastasius  of  Cherson,  503 
Andrew,  pilgrim,  126 
Andrew,  Prince  of  Tchernigov,  283 
Andrew  of  Longumeau  or  Lonci- 

umel,  277,  278,^317-320,  339,  364 
Anonjmious  Pilgrims  or  'Innomi- 

nati,'   138,  152,  167,  184,  203-207, 

274 
Ansgar,  St.,  516,  520 
Antoli  (Jacob)  of  Provence,  274 
Antoninus  Martyr,  167 
Arabuccha,  Mongol  Prince,  357 
Arculf,  pilgrim,  262,  556 
Are  Frode,  72,  82,  83 
Are  Marson,  72,  73 
Arghun,  Mongol  General,  352.  372 
Aristo,  the  Greek,  517 
Aristotle,  576 
Armenians,  in  Byzantine  service, 

468,  512,  513 
Arnold,  Bishop,  70 
Arnold,  the  Chronicler,  540 
Arnulf  of  Carinthia,  479 


644 


SHORT    INDEX    OF    NAMES 


Arsenius,  Patriarch,  125 

Ascelin  or  Anselm,  friar-traveller, 

277,  318 
Asehod  [III.],  'King'  of  Armenia, 

123,  504,  506,  511 
Askold  and  Dir,  187 
Assaf,  224 

Augustine,  St.,  557,  577 
Avaldamon,  69 
Avang,  77 

Bachu     (Baiju)      Noian,      Mongol 

General,  318,  372,  384,  389 
Bacon,  Roger,  9,  10,  275,  276,  466. 

575 
Baeda,   the   Venerable   Bede,   208, 

522,   524,  526,  540,  574 
Baitu,  Mongol  General,  277 
Baldwin  I.,  140,  153,  156,  161,  170, 

171,  180,  420 
Baldwin  II.,  279 
Baldwin  III.,  428,  433 
Baldwin  IV.,  429 
Baldwin  of  Hainault,  279,  321,  337, 

359 
Bardi,  the  Icelander,  37 
Bartholemew   of    Cremona,   friar- 
traveller,  321,  324,  340,  367 
Basil  I.,  Emperor,  468,  472,  499,  506, 

511,  513 
Basil   II.,   Emperor,  122,   492,   498, 

506,  508,  512,  513 
Basil,  the  priest,  385 
Basil,  the  prisoner  of  the  Mongol. 

360 
Batu,  Mongol,  Prince  and  General, 

283,  300,  301,  314,  316,  334,  338-41, 

345,  346,  365,  369,  384,  385,  390,  391 
Batuta,  Ibn  ;  see  Ibn  Batuta 
Beatus,  11,  549-559,  591-605 
Belardus  of  Esculo,  pilgrim,  207 
Benedict  IV,  Pope,  121 
Benedict,  the  Pole,  friar-traveller, 

277-280,  302,  303,  390,  391 
Ben-Hadad,  246 
Benjamin   of  Tudela,   6,   169,   185, 

186,   218-261,   303,   435,   460,    461, 

488 
Berengar,  King  of  Italy,  496 
Berke,  451 

Bernard,  friar-traveller,  372 
Bertram  of  Toulouse,  424 
Biarne  Asbrandson,  72 
Biarne  Grimolfson,  63,  68,  70 
Biarne  Heriulfson,  49,  50,  51 
Biarne  Thordarson,  72 


Bibars,  Sultan,  240 

Biorn,  Champion  of  the  Broad- 
vikings,  37,  73,  74 

Biorn,  Marshal  of  St.  Olaf,  100 

Bjorgolf  of  Halogaland,  32,  33 

Bohemund  (various),  153,  238,  379, 
420,  422,  429,  440 

Boleslav,  293 

Bolli  Bollison,  106 

Boniface  of  Molendino,  374,  448 

Botund,  482 

Bovo,  517 

Biancaleone,  Francesco,  418 

Brian  Born,  94,  115 

Brynjolf  Bjorgolfson,  32 

Bulan,  King  of  the  Khazars,  222, 
223 

Bulgai,  352,  355,  362,  363 

Bulgarians,  478-481 

Buri,  305,  345 

Burislav,  King  of  'Gaidar,'  26 

Burislav,  King  of  the  Wends,  42, 
44,46 

Burkhard  [or  Gerhard]  of  Strass- 
burg,  207 

Burkhard,  envoy  of  Frederic 
Barbarossa,  460 

Byzantine  Agents  in  Armenia 
[Sinutes,  Constantine  Krinites, 
Constantios,  Theodoros,  etc.],  505 

Caliphs,  225,  246,  250 

Capella,   Martianus,   522,   530,  542, 

546 
Carpini,     John    de     Piano,     friar- 
traveller,   6,  7,  10,  266,  275,  276, 

278,   279-317,    339,    374,    375-381, 

390,  391,  421,  446,  450 
Cassiodorus,  523 
Castile,  trade  of,  437,  438 
Catalans,  Catalonia,  trade  of,  435- 

437 
Catan,  299 

Catherine  II.  of  Russia,  455 
Chang-chun,  14 
Charles      of      Anjou,     Count      of 

Provence,  449 
Charles  the  Great,  Charlemagne, 

120,  534 
Chasdai  [Chisdai]  ben  Isaac,   220, 

222,  463,  493,  496 
Chingay,   protonotary   of  Mongol 

Court,  311,  314 
Chosroes    I.   of    Persia,  the    Just, 

222 
Chosroes  II.  of  Persia,  149 


SHORT    INDEX    OF    NAMES 


645 


Clavijo,  449 

Cnut  the  Great,  85,  87,  96-402,  539 
Coelestine  4.,  Pope,  420 
Conrad,  Emperor,  539 
Conrad,  Duke  of  Lenczy,  293 
Conrad  of  Montferrat,  429 
Conrad  of  Wittelsbaeh,  382 
Constantine  the  Great,  448,  582 
Constantino  Monomach,  406 
Constantine  Pogonatus,  477,  478 
Constantine  V.,  494 
Constantine        VII.,        Porphyro- 

gennetos,   9,    446,    422,   426,   424, 

452,  453,  465,  467-544 
Constantine,  the  Patrician.  545 
Conti,  Nieolo,  448 
Cosmas,  523,  524,  580 
Cotton  Map,  559-563,  608-642 
Crusades,  4,  2 
Cyril,  Apostle  of  Slavs,  503 

Dagobert  [Daibert],  457,  427,  428 
Daniel  of  Kiev,  4,  5,  448,  455-474 
Daniel,  Bishop  of  Suriev  (?  same  as 

preceding),  457 
Daniel  [Danil],  Prince  of  Galicia, 

294,  295,  347 
Dati,  576 
David-  el-roy,  255 
David,  Prince  of  Georgia,  292 
David,  Nestorian  priest,  352 
David  SviatoslaA'itch,  473 
David,  pseudo-en voy,  278,  348,  364, 

367 
Dermot  [Dermatius],  207 
Dicuil,  524,  525 

Dietrich  [Theoderich  ?],  490,  495 
Diogenes,    Governor    of   Cherson, 

499 
Dionysius  Periegetes,  560 
Dizabul,  the  Turk,  283,  345 
Donizo,  427 
Dosa,  Rabbi,  220 
Dubarlaus,     Jacob    and     Michael 

(Attendants      of      Yaroslav      of 

Russia).  344 

Ealdred,   Archbishop   of    York,   4, 

428,  429 
Edrisi,  43,  248,  257,   260,   442,   443, 

444,  454,  452,  459,   464,   493,   494, 

504 
Edward  the  Confessor.  403 
Egil  Skallagrimson,  37 
Einar  Thambarskelvir.  47 
Einar  Wry-mouth,  94,  95 


Eindrid  Oddson,  72 

Einhard,  522,  534,  533,  534,  536,  537 

Eldad,  the  Danite,  220 

Eldegai,  300 

Elias,     Patriarch     of     Jerusalem, 

various,  448,  449,  424,  584 
Elipandus  of  Toledo,  549,  550 
Emeterius  of  Valcavado,  554 
Emma,  wife  of  ^Ethelred  II.,  87 
Emmerad  of  Anzy,  425 
Eric,  Bishop,  70 

Eric  Blood-axe  (two),  3,  32,  33,  93 
Eric,  brother  of  Hakon  the  Good, 

34,  35 
Eric  Einundson,  33 
Eric  Hakonson,  46,  47 
Eric  Haraldson,  3,  34 
Eric  of  Normandv,  Earl,  87 
Eric  the  Red,  3,  28,  29,  46,  48,  49, 

50,  54 
Erling  Sigvatson,  72 
Ernoul,  208,  244,  242 
Etherius,  Bishop  of  Osma,  549 
Eupeterius  of  Cherson,  503 
Euphrosyna,  245 
Eusebius,  567,  568,  584 
Eustathius,  246 
Eustochium,  454 

Eutychius,  Exarch  of  Ravenna,  402 
Eyvind  Skald-spiller,  36 
Eyvind  Urochs-horn,  93-95 
Ezra,  the  Scribe,  248 

Falcandus,  236 

Faravid,  King  of  the  Kvens,  33 

Felix  of  Urgel,  549 

Feodor,  283 

Ferdinand  411.  of  Castile,  435,  437 

Fetellus  or  Fretellus,  484,  486-489 

Fidelis,  Abbot,  549 

Finn  Arnison,  98 

Flavio  Gioja  (Gisia),  398 

Frederic  I.,  Emperor  (Barbarossa), 

460,  564 
Frederic  II.,  Emperor,  276,  402,  429, 

464 
Frederic  of  Verdun,  424 
Freydis,  daughter  of  Red  Eric,  50, 

59-64,  63,  67,  68 
Frisian  Explorers,  548 
Fulcher  of  Arras,  429,  430 
Fulcher  of  Chartres,  456,  464,  583 
Fulcher,  Patriarch   of  Jerusalem, 

497 
Fulk  the  Black  Count  of  Anjou.  4, 

422,  425 


646 


SHORT    INDEX    OF    NAMES 


Ganuz  Wolf,  531,  532 

Gauzlin  of  Fleury,  126 

Genoa,  trade  of,  118-426 

Gerard  of  Cremona,  575 

Gerard  of  Nazareth,  208 

Gerbert  of  Sens,  320 

Gerbert  (Pope  Sylvester  II.),  4,  124 

Gervase  of  Tilbury,  216 

Geysa,  King  of  Hungary,  483 

Ghenghiz   Khan,  6,  287,  306,    307, 

319,  350,  445 
Gilli,  'the  Russian,'  37 
Gisbert  and  Reinard,  119 
Gisela,  Queen,  483 
Gissur  Hallson,  208 
Gleb  of  Minsk,  173 
Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  428 
Godric,  the  Pirate,  148 
Gorm,  '  Duke  in  Sweden,'  26 
Gorm  the  Old,  26 
Gorodislav  Mikhailoviteh,  173 
Gosset,  321,  324,  340,  369 
Gregory  I.,  Pope,  120 
Gregory  IV.,  Pope,  120 
Gregory  VII.,  Pope  (Hildebrand), 

131,  etc.,  520 
Gregory  IX.,  Pope,  275,  276 
Gregory,  the  Daronite,  507 
Gregory  of  Tours,  523 
Gualdo,  '  the  Frenchman,'  517 
Guaymar  of  Salerno,  399 
Gudleif  Gudlaugson,  72,  73 
Gudleik  of  Novgorod,  96,  97 
Guclrid,  56-59,  61 
Guest  Thorhallson,  106 
Guiclo  '  of  Italy,'  517 
Guido  '  of  Ravenna,'  11,  632 
Guido  of  Tripoli,  429 
Guiscard  of  Cremona,  277 
Guiscard,  Robert,  399 
Gunnar  of  Lithend,  33,  37 
Gunnbiorn,  3,  21,  28 
Gunstein,  88-92 
Gimther  of  Bamberg,  129-131 
Guthorm    [Guthrum]    of    Dublin, 

110 
Guy  of  Brabant,  126 
Guyot  de  Provins,  10 
Guzman,  513 

Haji,  Mohammed,  444 

Haki  and  Hakia,  64 

Hakim,  Caliph  ,126.127,  149,  241 

Hakon  the  Good,  King,  31,  35,  36 

Hakon  the  Wise,  Earl,  42,  43,  44 

Haldor  Snorrison,  110 


Halfdan  the  Black,  King,  26 
Halfdan,     'White'     and     'Black,' 

brothers,  34 
Hallvard  the  Easterling,  33 
Hanno  of  Cologne,  517,  519 
Harald  Fairhair,  26,  27,  30,  31 
Harald  Gormson,  44 
Harald  Greycloak,  34 
Harald  Harclrada,  3,  100,  101,  103- 

111,  175,   525,  528,   529,   531,  532, 

548 
Harek  of  Thiotta,  96,  100,  102 
Harun-al-Rashid,  120 
Hasan  Ibn  Saba,  239,  590 
Havton,  King,   362,   368,   369,   374, 

382-391 
Helgasons  (brothers),  70 
Helge  and  Finnboge,  59-61 
Helinand  of  Laon,  123,  129 
Hemy  III.,  Emperor,  519 
Henry  IV.,  Emperor,  488,  517 
Hemy  V.,  Emperor,  564 
Henry  I.  of  England,  176,  564 
Hemy  II.  of  England,  564 
Henry  III.  of  England,  276,  589 
Hemy  of  Burgundv  and  Portugal, 

177 
Henry  of  Mainz,  11,  553,  560,  563- 

566,  614-617 
Heraclius,  Emperor,  150,  491 
Herberstein,  Sigismund  von,  453 
Herbert  '  le  Sommelier,'  320 
Heriulf  of  Drepstok,  49 
Hermann  of  Bamberg,  4 
Herrade  of  Landsberg,  575 
Flialte  Skeggieson,  77 
Hictarius,  pilgrim,  126 
Hierotheos,  483 
Hiouen-Thsang,  345,  442 
Homo  Dei  Turgemanus,  321,  324, 

368 
Honainus,  514 
Honorius  of  Autun,  564,  574 
Hoskuld,  the  Viking,  37 
Hugh  of  Provence,  496 
Hugh  of  Tuscany,  124 
Hugo  of  St.  Victor,  208 
Hulagu,  362,  387 
Hungarians,  Magvars,  or  '  Turks,' 

474,  476,  481-484 
Hyginus,  575 

Ibelin,  House  of,  422 

Ibn  Batuta,  7,  257,  258,  451,  494 

Ibn  Biitlan,  441 

Ibn  Dasta,  458 


SHORT    INDEX    OF    NAMES 


647 


H)ii  Foslan,  158,  223,  458,  463,  485, 

494,  504 
Ibii  Haukal,  504,  510,  511 
lbn  Khordadbeh,  488,  493,  504 
Ibn  Mohalhal,  13 
lbn  Said,  435,  451 
Igor,  Prince  of  Russia,  157,  485,  486, 
^491 

Ilchikadai,  278,  317,  318 
Ingolf  and  Leif,  3,  28 
Innocent  L,  Pope,  120 
Innocent  III.,  Pope,  216,  460 
Innocent  IV.,  Pope,  275,  276,  589 
Iomala,  90,  91,  98 
Isaac,  tbe  Jew,  219 
Isiaslav  Ivanovitch,  pilgrim,  173 
Isiaslav,  Prince,  156,  488 
Isidore  of  Seville,  551,  555,  557,  560, 

577,  578 
Isleif,  Bishop,  72.  517 
Ismaelj  239 

Ivan  IL  of  Moscow,  38 
Ivan  III.  of  Moscow,  39,  41 
Ivan  IV.  of  Moscow,  41 

Jacob  ben  Sheara,  219 

James  I.  of  Aragon,  434,  435,  436, 

460 
.lames  of  Edessa,  149 
James  de  Vitry,  170,  208,  212-214, 

459,  460 
James,  the  Abbot,  385 
Jelian  Goderiche,  320 
Jerome,    St.    [and   Jerome    maps], 

151,  564,  565,  566-568,  569,  589,  605, 

608 
Johannes  Moschos,  581 
Johannes  Phokas,  184,  199-203 
John  VIII. ,  Pope,  117,  118,  119 
JohnX.,  Pope,  496 
.John  of  Beaumont,  339 
John  of  Beneventum,  123 
.John  of  Carcassonne,  320 
.John   Gurgen   [Kurkuas],   Byzan- 
tine General,  505,  513 
John  of  Parma,  St.,  123 
John  Pilatus,  496 
John  of  Salisbury,  440 
.John  Scotus  Erigena,  517 
John    Tzimiskes,     Emperor,     122, 

123,  484,  486,  488,  491,   506,   507, 

508,  511,  513,  583 
John  of  Wurzburg,   pilgrim,    150, 

152,  166,  184,  190-195 
John  VI.,  Patriarch,  505,  506 
John,  Bishop  and  Martyr,  539 


Jonah  of  Tudela,  228 

Jordanes  [Jornandes],  455 

Joseph,  Rabbi,  250 

Joseph,  King  of  the  Khazars,  492, 

493 
Josippon  ben  Gorion,  224 
Julian  [alias  Hugo,  alias  William], 

Embriaco,  240 
Juliette  of  Tuscany,  124 
Julius  I.,  Pope,  120 
Julius  Honorius,  558 
Justin,  511 
Justinian    I.,   450,    454,    500,    501, 

511 
Justinian  II. ,  491,  499,  500 

Kadak,  314 
Ivadan,  305 
Kalf  Arnison,  101,  102 
Kallinikos  of  Heliopolis,  478 
Kalokyr,  502 

Karli  of  Halogaland,  88-92 
Karl-o'-mere,  98 
Kashkitch  (the  two),  173 
Kazwini,  495 
Kharmath,  239 
Khazars,  472,  474,  491-494 
Khoja  Noian,  389 
Kiartan,  45 

Kirakos  Gandaketsi,  385,  389 
Klerk,  36 
Koiak,  337 

Kolskegg  of  Iceland,  37,  107 
Kosmas,  313 

Krates  of  Mallos,  571,  576 
Krum,  Tsar  of  Bulgarians,  480 
Kublai  Khan,  7 
Kurancha,  297,  316 
Kurd,  the  Armenian,  389 
Kuyuk  Khan,  277,  278,  292,  306-315, 
383,  390,  391 

Lambert  of  St.  Omer,  12,  551,  570- 

573,  574,  621-624 
Leger,  St. ,  Dean  of  Auxerre,  126 
Leif  and  Ingolf,  3,  28 
Leif  Ericson,  3,  45,  46,  49,  51-54,  56, 

57,  64,  77,  93 
Leo  II.  of  Little  Armenia,  King, 

382,  456,  457 
Leo   III.    the   Isaurian,   Emperor, 

491,  510 
Leo  IV,  'the   Khazar,'  Emperor, 

475,  480.  491,  492,  499 
Leo  VI.,  Emperor,  479,  499,  510 
Leo  I.,  Pope,  'the  Great,'  120 


648 


SHORT    INDEX    OF    NAMES 


Leo  III.,  Pope,  120 

Leo  IV.,  Pope,  119,397 

Leo  of  Monte  Cassino,  123 

Leo,  the  physician,  507 

Leon,  Governor  of  Daron,  123 

Lietbert  of  Cambrai,  123,  129 

Liudprand       [Liutprand,       '  Luit- 

prand'],  481,   484,   487,   495,    196, 

498,  502,  512,  514 
Liutfrid,  484 
Lodin,  merchant,  45 
Lorenzo,  277 
Lothair,  Emperor,  182 
Louis  Lewis,  Ludwig,  the  'Pious,' 

'  Debonnair,'  etc.,  Emperor,  120. 

480,  487 
Louis   IX.,    St.   Louis   of    France, 

278,  317-321,  590 

Macrobius  [and  Macrobian  Maps], 

526,  570,  573-576,  625-626 
Madaba  Map,  580-583,  633-636 
Magnus  Barefoot,  King  of  Norway, 

175,  176 
Magnus  the  Good  (Olafson),  King 

of  Norway,  101-103,  107,  109 
Maimonides,  Moses,  224,  247,  264 
Maius  of  Zara,  498 
Makko  of  Constance,  125 
Malacene,  Bishop,  121 
Malcolm,  King  of  Scots,  94 
Malefrid,  Count,  123 
Mangu    Khan,    Mongol    Emperor, 

278,  321,   340,   345,'  346,  354-369, 

384-386 
Manuel  Comnenus,  Emperor.  193, 

198,  199,  201,  202,  421,   422,   430, 

450,  453,  454,  499 
Manuel  of  Venice,  317 
Margaret,  Queen  of  France,   320, 

321 
Margath  [or  Margad],  110 
Mari,  Abba,  229 
Marinus  of  Tyre,  576 
Marseilles,  trade  of,  432-434 
Martin  I.,  Pope,  119,  120 
Masudi,  Arabic  Geographer,  87,  99, 

223,  458,  463,  488,  489,  493,   494. 

510,  511,  544,  576 
Matthew  of  Edessa,  490,  506,  513 
Matthew  Paris,  2,  6,  12,  145,  216, 

217,  275,  461,   551,  559,  560,  581- 

590,  638-641 
Mauci,  299,  302,  316 
Maximus,  Archbishop,  118 
Mekhitar  of  Skerra,  385 


Melic,  292 

Melkorka,  37 

Meshech,  271 

Michael       III.,      the       Drunkard, 

Emperor,  460,  513 
Michael  Palaeologus,  Emperor,  426 
Michael  of  Cherson,  502 
Michael  of  Genoa,  317,  446 
Michael  of  Tchernigov,  283 
Michael  Sviatopolk,  156,  173 
Michael  Sviatoslavitch,  173 
Micheas,  296 
Moawiyah,  Calijoh,  145 
Moktafi,  Caliph,  226 
Montpellier,  trade  of,  434,  435 
Mostanshed  or  Mostanieh,  226 
Mozaffer,  Caliph,  129 
Muntaner,  Gregory  de,  Abbot   of 

St.  Sever,  552 
Myrkiartan,  Irish  King.  37 

Nabal,  the  Carmelite,  242 
Naclodd,  Norse  Explorer,  3,  27 
Narbonne,  trade  of,  434,  435 
Nasir-i-Khusrau  [Arabic  traveller], 

13,  126 
Nathan,  220,  264 
Nathan  ben  Jechiel,  224 
Neckam,  Alexander,  10 
'  Nestor,'  Russian  Chronicles  of,  25, 

156,  485,  487,  488,  492,  495,  502 
Nestorians,  2,  347,  348,  352.  353.  362, 

364 
Nicolas,    Abbot    of    Thing-Eyrar, 

430 
Nicolas,  companion  of  Rubruquis, 

324 
Nicolas,    Patriarch    of   Constanti- 
nople, 505 
Nicolas  '  Pisanus,'  317,  446 
Nicolas  of  Santo  Siro,  374,  447 
Niger,  Radulphus,  216 
Nikephoros  I.,  Emperor,  479 
Nikephoros  II.,  Phokas,  Emperor, 

484,  495,  497,  502,  508,  513 
Niketas,  122 
Northmen,  2,  3,  17-111 
Norva,  23 
Nur-ed-din,  215,  248 

Obeco,  552 

Odin,  24,  25 

Ogul   Gaimish,   Mongol   Empress, 

278,  319,  367 
Ohthere,  Norse  explorer.  3,  31,  32, 

34 


SHORT    INDEX    OF    NAMES 


649 


Okkodai  Khan,  Mongol  Emperor, 

284,  289,  305,  306,  307,  308 
Olaf  Haraldson,  St.  Olaf,  King  of 

Norway,  3,  39,  84-88,  94-104,  104, 

409 
Olaf  Kuaraii,  King  of  Dublin,  42 
Olaf  Tryggveson,  King  of  Norway, 

3,  30,  37.  44-48,  64,  87,  94 
Olaf,  King  of  Sweden,  47  [96J 
Olaus  Magnus,  543 
Oleg,   Prince   of   Russia,   457,   463. 

482,  487 
Oleg  Sviatoslavitch,  473 
Olga,  Princess  of  Russia,  482,  483, 

485,  487 
Omar  ('Amor'),  Caliph,  466 
Orderious  Vitalis,  547 
Orestes,    Patriarch   of    Jerusalem, 

124 
Orosius,  529,  535,  543,  562,  563,  577 
Orso  Ipato,  Doge  of  Venice,  402 
Othmar,  208 
Otto  I.,  the  Great,   Emperor,  483. 

484,  495,  539 
Otto  114.,  Emperor,  548 
Otto  IV.,  Emperor.  448 

Palnatoki,  Viking  Leader,  '■]') 

Pancrati  Sviatoslavitch,  173 

Paquette  of  Metz,  357 

Paul,  the  Deacon,  542,  513 

Paul  of  Zara,  19S 

Paula,  St.,  451 

Pegolotti,  Balducci,  merchant  and 

traveller,  454 
Pepin,  King  of  Franks,  420 
Petachia,  Rabbi    Moses,    229,    247, 

264,  etc. 
Petchinegs,  473,   476,   489-494,  492, 

493,  494 
Petronas,  494 
Petrus  Alfonsus  or  Alphousus   of 

Huesca,  map  of,  575,  626,  627 
Philip  de  Toucy,  324 
Pisa,  trade  of,  427-432 
Plato  of  Tivoli,  575 
Polo,  Marco,   7.   275,  279,    151,  456, 

459 
Polo,  Marocca,  451 
Polo,  Matteo,  7,  151 
Polo,  Nicolo,  7,  454 
Pomponius  Mela,  560 
Poppo.  Archbishop  of  Treves,  122, 

129 
Poppo  of  Stavelot,  124 
Prester  John,  349 


Priscian,  560,  562 

Procopius,  543 

Psalter  Map,  568,  569,  647-621 

Pseudo-Baeda,  203-205 

Ptolemy.  Claudius,  astronomer  and 

geographer,  523,  530,  576 
Pvtheas   of  Marseilles,    navigator, 

'547 

Raban  Maur,  Archbishop  of  Mainz, 

545 
Rabban  Cauma,  352 
Ram,  the  Limerick  trader,  72,  73 
Raganarius,  120 
Ralph  Glaber,  125,  126,  127 
Ranulf  Ffigden,  580 
Rashid-ed-din,  305  * 
Raven  Floke,  28 
Ravennese   Geographer,    523,    521, 

543,  588 
Raymond,  Count  of  Toulouse,  140, 

229 
Raymond  II.,  Count  of  Tripoli,  240 
Raymond   III.,  Count   of  Tripoli, 

397  [445] 
Rajmiond  Berenger  III.,  424,  435 
Raymond  Berenger  IV.,  424 
Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  589 
Richard,  Abbot  of  Verdun,  122 
Richard,    Duke    of    the   Normans, 

various,  122,  127,  128 
Rimbert,  St.,  529 
Robert,  the  Clerk,  320 
Robert,  Duke  of  Normandy,  4,  12S 
Robert  Guiscard,  444,  176 
Robert  of  Melkeley,  586 
Roerek  (Rurik)  Vassal  King  93 
Roger  I.  of  Sicily,  176 
Roger  II.  of  Sicily,  479,  480,  399,  400 
Roger,  Duke  of  Apulia,  233 
Roger  of  Figeac,  426 
Roger  of  Wendover,  246 
Rolf,  Hrolf  or  Hrodolf,  the  Ganger, 

30,  34,  87,  476 
Roman,  346 
Romanus  L,  544 
Romanus  IV.,  508 
Romanus  Lecapenus,  492,  504,  506, 

543 
Rubruquis    or    Rubruck,   William 

de,  Friar-traveller,  7,  40,  266,  278, 

281,  298,  299,  303,  320-382,  424,  449, 

450,  454,  452 
Rudolf,  Bishop  of  Bethlehem,  433 
Rupen,  the  Armenian,  382,  456 
Rurik.  21,  25.  457,  476 


650 


SHORT    INDEX    OF    NAMES 


Saadia  Gaon,  220 
Saabh,  Hassan  Ibn,  230 
Sabbas  of  Servia,  215 
Saerobosco  (John  Halifax  of  Holy- 
wood),  575 
Saemuncl,  Bishoj),  72 
Saewulf,  pilgrim,  4,  5,  130-155,  160, 

162,  163,  165,  166,  169 
Sahensa,  Prince  of  Ani,  372 
Saladin,  Sultan,  423,  439,  461 
Salamon,  Byzantine  envoy,  495 
Sallam    the     Interpreter,    Arabic 

traveller,  223,  504 
Sallust  maps,  578,  579,  631,  632 
Sanjar,  Sultan  of  Merv,  226,  255 
Samuel  ben  Simson,  274 
Sanuto,  Marino,  590 
Sapsas  or  Sapsaphas,  581 
Sartach,  Mongol  Prince,  278,  319, 

320,  323,  331,  334-337,  369,  385,  388 
Saul,     Joseph,     and     Jacob     ben 

Eliezer,  220 
Saxo  Grammaticus,  historian,  526, 

540,  543,  545,  546 
Scatai,  331,  332 
Seljuks,  226 
Sempad,    Constable    of    Armenia, 

383,  384 
Sergius,  monk,  358 
Sergius  IV.,  Pope,  122 
Shah  Rokh,  444 
Sherira  ben  Khanina,  224 
Siegfried,    Archbishop    of    Mainz, 

pilgrim,  4,  129,  130 
Sigeric,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 

traveller,  12,  560-562,  612-614 
Sighvat  the  Skald,  96,  98,  101,  102 
Sigrid  of  Sweden,  Queen,  46 
Sigurd  of  Norway,  King,  Pilgrim, 

and  Crusader,  5,  157,  176-183 
Sigurd  of  Orkney,  94 
Silo  of  Oviedo,  King,  550 
'  Silvia  of  Aquitaine, '  St.,  165 
Simeon,  Nestorian  doctor,  362 
Simeon,  Tsar  of  Bulgarians,  479, 

480,  492 
Simon    of     St.     Quentin,     Friar- 
traveller,  277,  318 
Skopti       Ogmundson,       Norse 

traveller,  23,  175 
Skraelings,  55,  57-59,  66-69,  78,  81- 

83 
Snorri(e)  Sturleson,  eh.  ii.  passim, 

especially  p.  104 
Snorri(e)  Thorbrandson,  63 
Snorii(e)  Thorfinnson,  58,  61,  70 


Solinus,  523,  524,  529,  541,  542,  546, 

568 
Stefnir  Thorgilson,  123 
Stein  of  Iceland,  98 
Stephanus  Garcia  Placidus,  552 
Stephen,  Byzantine  envoy,  495 
Stephen  of  Hungary,  St.  and  King, 

127,  128,  483 
Stephen,  the  Bishop,  385 
Stephen      of      Bohemia,      Friar  - 

traveller,  302,  390 
Strabo,  163,  546 
Sueiro  Mendes,  Count,  177 
Svein  Godwineson,  4,  128 
Svein  Estrithson  [Astridson],  108- 

110,  516,  520,  521,   532,   541,   544, 

547 
Svein  Haraldson,  '  Forkbeard, '  44, 

46,  85 
Sviatoslav,    Russian    Prince,    157, 

450,  452,  486,  488,  491,  503 
Symeon   [Simeon],  the   Armenian, 

*125 
Symeon,    St.,    recluse   of    Treves, 

'121,  122,  129 

Tailored  of  Antioch,  428 

Terrier,      '  knight,'     attendant     of 

Yaroslav  of  Russia,  314 
Thaugbrand  [Dangbrandt],  priest 

and  missionary,  45,  46 
Themistos,    Governor  of  Cherson, 

499 
Theoderich  [Dietrich],  pilgrim,  184, 

195-199 
Theodora,  Empress,  122 
Theodore,  262 
Theodosius,  Patriarch,  118 
Theodosius,     David,     and      Sabas, 

envoj's,  118 
Theodoulos  [Raymond],  357,  358 
Theophanes,  historian,  475,  etc. 
Theophano,  Empress,  518 
Theophilus,  Emperor,  487,  494,  501 
Theophylact,  483 
Theotonius,  pilgrim,  207 
Thietmar,  215 

Thomas  the  Usurper,  510,  512 
Thorarin  of  Iceland,  93 
Thorbrand  Snorrison,  67 
Thorbiorn  Angle,  106 
Thorbiorn  Yifilson,  62,  63 
Thogarma,  Thogarmim,  237,  269 
Thorfhm  Karl,  73 
Thorfiim  Karlsefne,  explorer,  3,  48, 

56-59,  61,  62,  63-70,  75,  76,  77 


SHORT    INDEX    OF    NAMES 


651 


Thorfimi  Skull-cleaver  of  Orkney, 

93-95 
Thorhall  Gamlison,  63 

Thorhall,  the  Huntsman,  63,  64,  65, 

69 
Thorir  Hund,  3,  88-92,  96,  98,  100- 

102.  175 
Thorir,  the  Easterling,  56 
Thorir  Klakka,  43 
Thorkell,  brother  of  Gisli,  37 
Thorkell  Fouhnouth,  37 
Thorkell  Gelleson,  73,  82 
Thorleik,  the  Fair,  109,  110 
Thorolf,  heir  of  Bjoigolf  and  Bard, 

33 
Thoros,  238 

Thorstein  Dromund,  106 
Thorstein  Erieson,  56,  62,  63 
Thorstein  Stirson,  106 
Thorvald  Erieson,  54-56,  62,  63,  68, 

69 
Thorvald    (Thorvard),   of    Gardar, 

son-indaw  of  Red  Eric,  50,  59-61, 

63 
Thorvald  Kodranson.  123 
Thyri,  -wife  of  Olaf  Tryggveson,  16 
Titus,  Emperor,  legend  of,  232 
Toki,  '  dux  Winlandensis,"  546 
•  Tortushi '  (Abubekr  Mohammed), 

495 
Touey  Narjot  de,  321  (see  Philip  de 

Touey,  279) 
Trasmundus,  517 
Turakina,   Mongol    Empress,    308, 

311,312,313,  314,  315 
Turolf,  517 
Tyrker  'the  German,"  51,  53,  78 

Uvaegij  69 

Yaetildi,  69 

Valdidada,  69 

Varlaam  of  Kiev,  155 

Varthema,  L.  de,  traveller,  443 

Vassili  Vladimiroviteh,  173 

'  Vassilko,'  Prince  of  Russia,   294, 

317 
'  \rastacius,'  355 
Venice,  trade  of,  400-418 
Venerius  ('  Reverius  '),  446 
Victor  II.,  Pope,  122,  129 
Vidgaut   of  '  Samland,'  merchant 

and  traveller,  537 
Vigdis,  71 
Vilecinus,  516 


Vincent  of  Beauvais,  10,  275,  277 

Vioni  [Viglioni],  P.,  445 

Virgil,  Bishop,  524 

'  Vissavald '  of  Novgorod,  46 

Vivaldo,  Benedetto,  462 

Vivaldo,  Sorleone,  462 

Vladimir  of  Kiev  and  Novgorod, 

the  Great,  36,  41,  47,  157,  492,  503 
Vladimir    Monomach,    Prince     of 

Russia,  453 

Walid,  Caliph,  262 

Widukind,  539 

Wilbrand  of  Oldenburg,  215,  216, 

461 
William  of  Angouleme,  4,  128 
William  of  Apulia,  398 
William  III.  of  Acmitaine,  128 
William  of  Conches,  574,  575 
William,  the  Englishman,  Bishop, 

522 
William  of  Malmesbury,  139 
William,  the  Monk,  523 
William  of  Normandy,  various,  87. 

127 
William  of  Paris,  350,  355-357,  360, 

364,  367,  368 
William  of  Tvre,  126,  157,  166.  170. 

180,  458,  460" 
William,  companion  of  Andrew  of 

Longumeau,  320 
Willibald.  pilgrim,  145,  151,  526 
Wolf,  son  of  Uspak,  110 
Wulfstan,    Bishoi3    of    Worcester, 

St.,  139 
Wulfstan,  navigator,  3,  34,  546 

Yakut,  Arabic  Geographer,  7,  13 
Yaroslav,    Prince    of    Russia,   283, 

285,  291,304,  309,312,313 
Yaroslav,   the  Lawgiver    of    Kiev 

and  Novgorod,  Prince  of  Russia, 

39,  96,   99-101,   106-108,  156,  157, 

158 
Yehuda  ben  Elia  Hadasi,  224 
Yuri      [George],     Danilovitch     of 

Novgorod,  39 
Yussuf,  Mercantile  House  of,  457 
Yusuf  Ibn  Tashfin,  136 

Zemarchus,  283,  345 
Zenghi,  Atabeg,  of  Mosul,  197,  226 
Ziani,  P.,  Doge  of  Venice,  417,  460 
Zurbaneles,  509 


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